Warriors: Dusk
by Jade-of-the-Stone
Summary: A dark and evil power has risen again, seeking vengeance on the clans. A young tom must show that he is determined enough to create his own clan to lead against the forces. Together, with some familiar friends, StarClan's guidance, and an ominous trio of visions, he will rise up to greatness. The first adventurous book in the fascinating Warriors: Destiny arc!
1. Prologue

Above, the black sky was as dark as a raven's feathers. Stars, along with the moon, were absent from the sky. The trees were sapped of any life, leaving only long gray branches. The ground was muddy and the woods were covered in mist. Nothing could be seen far away nor up close, making it impossible to find a way out of the forest.

Alone in the dark, a cat wandered his way through the forest, surveying his surroundings. His gray fur was bristled, and his eyes were a deep orange. He knew of the place he was. The Dark Forest. No ordinary cat would've been thrown into this place. Only the warrior cats, who he heard of from his mother, were supposed to inhabit this forest if they had done evil in their life, but why was he here? He wasn't dead yet. He was only 8 moons old, so it must be a nightmare. But was it real?

Suddenly, he unsheathed his claws, looking towards a large group of trees. Something was making noise behind them. He crouched slowly, sniffing for any kind of scent, but the only smell that hit his nose was the reeking mud. That didn't stop him from trying to identify the noise behind the dense lifeless trees. He crept closer, recognizing a cat's low moan. It sounded like it was in pain. As he reached the jumble of trees, he looked around them, peering into the mist to find the source of the noise.

It was a young-looking dark brown cat covered in blood. Scratches were all over it's body, and it's face was empty of expression. Blue eyes filled with fear stared right at the white cat. The gray cat ran over to the other cat, sheathing his claws. He spoke quietly, "What did this to you?"

The only reply was another moan as the brown cat started to fade away. His body became see-through for a couple moments, then disappeared altogether. Light sparks were the only things leftover, seeping into the ground before they also vanished.

The mist started to thicken around him. The Dark Forest became even darker until the gray cat could barely see 2 tail-lengths in front of him. Trying his best, he walked forward, almost banging his head into a nearby tree. His strides became longer when he heard a faint voice far behind him, "...Hey, did you see a cat?"

The gray cat kept gaining speed until he was dashing and swerving his ways through the trees. The voices behind him were no longer able to be heard after a few seconds, but he knew better than to stop and check. The darkness started to clear the farther he went. He continued to run, concentrating not on where he was going, but how to escape this place. Soon enough, he started to hear something else. Water?

The tom came upon a break in the trees and approached a huge river. It was almost as muddy as the ground itself, as it flowed with grime sluggishly. Across the dirty river, a shadow was seeming to be walking with the flow of the river. The gray cat froze as the shadow saw him. It's green eyes stared right at him. He knew he wasn't the fastest of his litter, so if any other thing wanted to catch him, he'd be easy prey. The shadow jumped into the river, clumsily wading in the grime towards him.

He readied himself for a fight, unsheathing his claws and crouching to the wet ground. He tried to "mreoow," but he wasn't gifted with intimidation either.

The shadow became easier to make out. It was a cat with a gray pelt and dark flecks with green eyes and short fur across it's flank. It also looked like... a she-cat. The overbearing weight of the mud in the river was nothing to her, making her way to him quicker than he expected. When she reached the shore, she shook herself off and strode toward me with her claws sheathed. Was she friendly? Her eyes glimpsed into his. She spoke with something in her voice that made it strange to him.

"Are you lost?"

The tom sheathed his claws and sighed. He sat down and answered, "Yeah. But I'm sure I'll wake up and leave this place soon."

The she-cat seemed startled at his answer and gasped. "You're not dead?"

He shook his head. "Not that I know of. First I fell asleep in a small hollow behind a bush and then I'm here."

"That could only mean you were chosen to share dreams with the Dark Forest cats. I knew something was going on! Have you seen any other cats?" She looked around the river quickly. Her speech was getting rapid

He remembered the other cats he saw and heard. "Yeah, I saw one cat die and fade away. It looked like a cat had killed him. Then I heard other cat's voices and ran. That's when I got here."

The she-cat turned towards me again. "You mean some cat was killed again? That could only mean he is close. Come on, I need you to get to safety. I need you to follow me to the border." She started to dash down the river, following the flow of it.

The tom ran after her and yelled, "What border?"

She called back, "The border between StarClan and the Dark Forest."

"Wait, what?"

"Just hurry."

Again, he wasn't the fastest of his litter, and she ran faster than any cat he'd seen before.

Before he could catch up to her, the Dark Forest started to fade away. The trees melted into each other and the river disappeared. He was losing the she-cat in the trees, and he slowed down. When he stopped, the gray cat couldn't recognize his surroundings.

Soon, he closed his eyes, and opened them again to see the sun rising in between the tangle of the bush. Birds chirped in the distance as butterflies floated over his hiding place. Clouds shifted their way across the blue sky, and the trees in the distance let their leaves on their branches dance with the wind. He looked around, knowing he was awake.


	2. Chapter 1

A tom with no home, or what cats call them, a loner. The gray cat rose to his feet, stretching out in the morning sun. He was on a big striding hill with tall grass reaching above his chin. Mountains rose far away into the sky with clouds encircling the tops. The roars of the monsters on the thunderpath were close bush he hid in was very leafy with edible berries on it. As he took a bite of one of the berries, a loud voice came to his ears.

"Drake? Where are you Drake. I'd know that scent anywhere." The voice was too familiar to him. The gray tom came out of the bush and saw who was calling him.

Henry. "Drake, there you are. Long time no see. What'cha doin' here?" Henry was a old orange tabby tom who was a good friend of Drake's mother. He had visited them a few times before Drake became a loner. His naive blue eyes stared at Drake until he came running over.

"Hey Henry. I'm just traveling. What are you doing here?" Drake sat and prodded his chest out so Henry didn't think he needed help.

"I was just let out by my twolegs and was explorin' the hills out here. When I stumbled onto your scent, well I couldn't believe my nose at first. You're very far from your home. Were you locked out by your twolegs?"

"No Henry. I wasn't. I'm not... I'm not with my twolegs anymore." Drake staggered the words out.

Henry didn't know how to respond. He looked at the ground and silently said, "Oh, yeah. I thought I heard somethin' about you recently. Were you the one that survived that fire?"

Drake nodded.

"So the other cat that didn't get out was..."

Drake nodded.

Henry stared at me with wide, sorrowful eyes. "I'm so sorry. After your father died on the thunderpath, I thought you and your mother would live together peacefully. I guess I was wrong. So you're a loner now?"

"I don't really want to be a loner. I don't want to be with any more twolegs either."

"Well what do you want to be, because there's no other option. Well, there is one other type, but no one has ever been in it recently. Remember, BloodClan? Oh they were vicious."

The treacherous BloodClan. They were a large group of cats, evil cats, that relied on one leader to decide what they do. Only fleabag cats would join a group like them anymore, but BloodClan disbanded after their leader was killed in a fight with the forest clans.

"What about the other clans? Henry, do you know anything about them?"

Henry looked confused. "I know plenty about those killer cats. They prowl the night in search of prey of all kinds. They even attack cats. I don't know their problem, but they don't let any other cat even set a claw on their territory. But the left long ago as well. Some cats say they went past the Big Twolegplace."

"I guess that if I had an option, I'd join them, but it seems too silly to come true." Drake got to his feet again.

"Why would you try to join them? They are as vicious as BloodClan, you mouse-brain. Follow me and I'll get you some food."

Henry started to dash away towards the big wall that separated the hills and the Twoleg dens. Drake followed him to the face of the big wall of stones. Henry crouched and leaped very high onto the top of the wall. Drake crouched, focusing all his strength into his hind legs. When he leaped, he crashed into the wall just below the top of the wall and fell back down. Henry laughed loudly. He kept laughing as we found a way around the wall.

The day was consumed with finding good places to catch mice and sharing the Twolegs weird cat food. Drake and Henry kept talking about where the best food is found in this place and how to avoid the dangerous loner cats. Loners still wonder around the Twolegplace, scaring cats into giving them their food they took all day to find. Henry also taught Drake how to cross the various thunderpaths. Everything was so huge. Drake had never really explored the territories of the twolegs before. He only stayed within his own den.

They found themselves heading into a dark path between two twoleg dens. Henry said it was a shortcut to his twoleg's den. The ground was littered with inedible food and trash. The tall dens blocked out the sun and a big twoleg thing that carried trash was at the end of the path, allowing it easier to get over the next wall. However, something seemed to shift in the shadows ahead. Drake's whiskers twitch, and he stopped Henry by putting a paw in front of him.

"Drake, what's wrong?" Henry didn't see what Drake saw.

Two pairs of hazel eyes came out of the shadows and revealed themselves as cats. One was a big brown cat with ruffled fur on top of his head while the other was a white cat with a long tail. Both their claws were unsheathed. Henry backed away, but Drake stood still.

The white tom spoke with pride. "Why, if it isn't Henry? Where are you going? You haven't paid you due of food for awhile." He stepped closer.

Henry whispered into Drake's ear shakily. "Drake, these guys are a couple of the dangerous cats to avoid. They come from a loner group nearby. We need to get out of here. Now."

The white tom came closer with the big tom close behind. "And you have a friend. Now we can get double the food. Did you tell him that we require food everyday from cats like him."

Drake stood still and replied, "We're just passing through. We don't mean to cause any trouble."

"But we do." The path seemed to get darker as they crept closer to Drake. Henry was retreating many tail-lengths behind him.

Drake started to walk around the cats, but the big tom cut him off. When he tried again, the white tom blocked him.

The white cat jumped back. "Let's teach this new cat what we do to cats when they don't pay their due of food, shall we Garve?" The big tom stepped forward and raised a claw.

Before Drake could react, Garve scratched him across the face, knocking Drake back onto the ground. Drake hit the ground hard, with blood streaking down the side of his face. It hurt, badly. Garve rushed to Drake while he was still on the ground. He lifted his claws, ready to scar Drake for life.

Suddenly, Henry came out of nowhere and headbutted Garve in the flank, barely making Garve fall. He staggered, but Henry attacked again just in time, unsheathing his claws and wildly scratching Garve. It wasn't long until the white cat joined in the fight as well. They were all in a deadly tussle. Drake took the time to recover to his feet. He was breathing heavily. He wanted to help Henry, but what good was he. He was knocked down with one hit. Drake finally realized, he was helpless.

Henry jumped out of the tussle and faced the two loners. "Leave us alone Kurk!"

The white cat clumsily got to his feet. A scratch on his face went across his mouth. "Oh no. You deserve to die now, you pathetic rabbit pellet eater." He charged at Henry with Garve. Henry steadied himself. Such bravery. Drake felt inadequate.

Kurk slid around Henry and scratch him from behind. Garve hit Henry in the flank, throwing him to the ground. Both Kurk and Garve smile maliciously as they approached Henry. Drake thought to himself, get up Henry!

Kurk went to clawing Henry all over his body. Henry went to trying to get up, but Garve held him down while he suffered against Kurk's sharp claws. Drake watches in horror as he saw blood starting to cover Henry's fur. Henry struggled to oppose Garve's strength, but it was useless.

"Stop!" A loud voice rang around the whole path. Immediately, Kurk halted his attacks. Garve spat on the ground next to Henry and let go of him. While Garve started to walk away, Kurk was huffing his breath, holding one paw on Henry still. The voice rang out again, "Kurk, stop now!" Drake saw the source of the voice.

A small black tom with a purple collar on was standing on the top of the wall. Worst of all, not only did he have killer blue eyes, he had teeth on his collar. Dog and cat teeth. No... It couldn't be... The leader of BloodClan?.. Scourge?!

Kurk retreated next to the small black cat and bowed to him. Then, the black cat looked at Drake and smiled. "Congratulations, young one." His voice was deep unlike cats his size. He must have already been 30 moons old. "You were first to witness you future leaders of the twolegplace prowess. First to see the new BloodClan."

Drake gulped, and staggered out, "You're... You're Scourge. But I thought y-you were dead."

"I am not Scourge." With his tail, he signaled for Kurk and Garve to leave. As they left, the black tom turned around to follow. "Scourge never died. His name has been marked over the hearts of innocents and I have been given the opportunity to follow in his footsteps and conquer all cats. For I... am his grandson." He left with the eerie wind. A new threat was rising, and Drake felt absolute terror. Blood Clan was uprising once more.

Drake ran over to Henry quickly. He stood over him, seeing all the gashes on Henry's side and neck. "Henry,what should I do?"

He breathed out his words heavily. "Go... get help my boy... find the twolegs... they're our only hope." His bleeding wasn't stopping. Drake tried to stop the blood by holding the wound. Drake started to cry.

"They won't get here in time. Henry tell me what to do!"

Henry looked at Drake with his wide eyes of his. He wore a smile like a mask, hiding his pain. "Drake... you're old enough to... make your own choices. It makes me content... to see you grew up better... than those mouse-brains."

"Henry, don't talk like that. I've only truly known you for a day. I need you! You are a good uncle to me!" The blood wasn't stopping, and Drakes paws were covered in red. He kept looking around for help, but it wasn't coming. Drake's tears streaked down his face. "I need you!"

Henry's side stopped beating. Drake stood with empty eyes, taking his paws off of Henry's body. Drake looked toward where Scourge had disappeared. Why!? Why are these cats so evil, he thought. Drake screeched with the sun's fading glow over the mountains, turning the sky red.


	3. Chapter 2

The night was silent like the night before. The moon was full, lighting the twolegplace brighter than any twoleg light. The stars glittered and spread across the sky like a blanket. Crickets were silently chirping their songs in the fields. An owl's "hoot" could be heard from the lonely path Drake was following.

Drake was alone that night, finding his bush again. He took whatever berries he could find and piled them so he could eat easily. They weren't as good as the juicy mouse he ate earlier with... Henry. He felt agony. Drake accused himself for Henry's death. He could have at least helped by fighting with Henry, but he was too stricken with fear to do anything. Anger started to boil in his body as he pushed away the berries and tried to fall asleep. The pain he felt kept him awake until he became drowsier. In his mind the world around him ceased to exist.

Dead trees... Heavy mist... Foreboding darkness... Absence of stars and the moon. Drake opened his eyes to see these things.

Frightful silence... A faint rushing of water... The reeking mud beneath his paws... This is what Drake heard and smelled.

Drake was in the Dark Forest.

"No... no not again." Drake stood up and double took twice, looking for cats again. The trees were dense, just like last time. His heart was beating hard, remembering the cat he found dead last time. He started to run through the dense forest, blinded by the heavy fog. Each turn, he was afraid to run into a cat that could kill him on the spot, and he didn't want to know what would happen if he did get killed here. Please, he thought, just let me find that nice she-cat again.

Finally, he came upon the dirty river again. It flowed slowly, and when Drake looks at it again, he wonders how the other she-cat he met before could even get across that. It was gross and smelled like mouse dung. It clung to his fur as he dipped a paw into it. Drake scanned the trees on the other side of the river, hoping to see the shadow of the she-cat.

That's when he remembered. She was leading him to StarClan! StarClan was supposed to be the haven to good warriors of the Clans. All the cats there were wise. If he got there, maybe he could find out why he was in this star-forbidden forest.

"Oooh, look what I found. Heh heh, it's an interesting tom cat."

Drake froze. He held his breath. He noticed the voice was a tom's and it was coming from right behind him.

"What are you blabbering about now mouse-brain? Who... oh."

Another voice came after the other. A tom's, just like the first, but it sounded deeper. Drake attempted to glance back to see the cats.

One came out of the shade of the dead tree to reveal himself at a big turtleshell dark gray cat with a white chest fur. His eyes were a dark yellow and his legs and paws looked powerful. His muzzle was white and his ears were very sharp. He also seemed to be very transparent, for Drake could see the tree clearly behind the cat through his body. Every step closer to Drake, he felt the ground shake itself. "Well, you were finally right. You have found an interesting cat indeed."

Drake tremored and shook in fear. he whispered, "W-Who are you?"

The gray tom laughed. "You are special to not know me. You're not part of the clans, are you?"

Drake shook his head slowly, trying not to move abruptly. He was too afraid to even reply anymore.

The cat behind the big tom came out and revealed himself. He was a dark-pelted tom like the big one, except he had black stripes going down his back and onto his tail and had blue eyes. He wasn't as transparent either. He smiled at me and spoke. "I think this is a loner. Who do you think summoned this pathetic excuse for a cat?"

The big tom looked around the wide expanse of the river. "I've never heard of a loner that could enter the Dark Forest at will. What's your name mouse-brain, or do you even have one?"

Drake didn't know if he should reply, but he guessed if he didn't, they would rip him to shreds. He swallowed and finally answered, "Drake."

"Hmmm... Never heard that name anymore. Well, what do you think?" The big tom looked at the other cat.

"I think since we still need something to kill. This cat would be perfect prey for me to play with."

Drake almost fainted. He backed towards the river instead.

"No this one is special. He could be useful."

Drake was able to nudge closer and closer to the river while the two toms were distracted. Swimming the unswimmable river was his only chance to try to escape them.

"But it's a fox-dung loner. He might start to tell other cats about this place. what if he stumbles onto our plans with _him_?"

Drake was at the edge of the muddy river. The jump into it was a tail-length down. He was scared at first, but he closed his eyes and held his breath.

"Wait! He's getting away!"

Drake jumped into the river and felt the mud cling to his pelt like heavy burrs. He struggled to keep himself above the water. The current was getting more rapid suddenly and was rushing him down the river. he could barely hear the toms yell at him as he tried not to drown.

"Get him... Mouse-dung... You..."

"I'm not...That mucky water... No..."

Drake kept gasping for air, but the weight was too strong for him. It was as powerful as his old twoleg's grip. I'm going to drown, he thought. Maybe I'll wake up. Or not. Drake wasn't tough enough as he let himself go limp with the current.

"You mouse-brained tom! Open your eyes! Oh come on!" Drake recognized the sound of the nice she-cat. When he opened my eyes, he saw the she-cat breathe a sigh of relief. Her eyes were stern as she asked, "What were you thinking being in that river?"

Drake coughed up water and laid on his side. His gaze drifted to the river, which was narrower than it was before. He must have drifted far with the current, because there were not many trees as there were. He looked at the she-cat again. "I wasn't thinking."

She walked around me and helped me to my paws. She held me up with her shoulder and started to walk forward, "Well, hopefully we'll make it to StarClan this time and you can explain everything."

"Before we get there, can I ask what your name is?" Drake thought now was a good time as any.

"That depends. Can I ask yours first?" She sounded jokeful.

"Drake."

"Ferncloud. Nice to meet you Drake. Let's hurry now."

"There it is Drake, StarClan."

They arrived at the border in no time. The dead trees stopped at the line and were replaced by glorious, life-filled trees. The mist disappeared as it met the light of StarClan. Nothing separated the Dark Forest from StarClan, so any cat could just walk into each one without anything guarding the border. It was just a few fox-lengths away. Ferncloud smiled as she let Drake walk himself.

"Stop right there Ferncloud! Drake is mine!" Suddenly, the gray tom with the black stripes appeared between the dense trees behind and dashed towards them. Ferncloud looked back and without any waiting, she started to run.

"Hurry Drake, hurry!"

For the last and final time, he was not the fastest of his litter. Drake wished he could shout that out now, but he was too exhausted running for his life. The tom behind him must have been twice as fast as Drake and was getting swiftly closer. With a unknown strength, Drake ran so quick, he couldn't focus on where he was going. He just kept speeding up until he finally reached the border and crossed. He stopped just in front of Ferncloud, almost ready to throw up.

The black striped tom didn't pass the line, but stopped and yelled at them. "Ferncloud, he was mine! If he's on Dark Forest territory, he stays on Dark Forest territory!"

Ferncloud walked to the border with a swing in her step. "But he's not from the Dark Forest, is he? He would be a trespasser on your territory then, so you have no call where he can go."

"Don't try to pull one over with me. I know the rules and have been here longer than you!"

Ferncloud chuckled. "Heh, doesn't seem like it."

A new voice broke in. "What's going on here?" Luckily, it didn't come from the Dark Forest, but it was just as scary because it came from right behind Drake. He jumped back towards Ferncloud as she also turned to see the newcomer.

A big dark tabby tom was standing on the path that led deeper into StarClan. Strangely, his jaw was disfigured and looked broken. He stared at all of us. "First, both of you stop bickering like 'paws and be quiet. Next," He stared straight at me with his bright and furious yellow eyes, "tell me why this cat is on our territory."

Ferncloud's pep had evaporated altogether. "Crookedstar, I found this cat. He is a loner who is somehow getting here in his sleep. He's actually alive."

"No, no, no you are not stealing this one." The black striped tom broke in. "He was on Dark Forest territory. He belongs to us."

Crookedstar, as it seemed his name was, walked up to Ferncloud. "Is this true Ferncloud?"

"Yes Crookedstar, but isn't summoning cats here within their dreams against the rules since the last time?" Drake had no idea what any of them were talking about. He only hoped Ferncloud would win the argument.

Crookedstar shifted to the other tom. "This is true. We had a deal Darkstripe. You cannot interact with cats through their dreams, especially loners or kittypets. Who summoned him?"

Darkstripe looked away and closed his eyes. "Well I didn't, and neither did any other Dark Forest cat. He came here on his own, and if he's on Dark Forest territory, we have the right to see what we do with him."

Crookedstar was unmoved as he replied. "I have trouble believing that this cat somehow just appeared in your territory. If it is true that he was on your territory, then you do have the right to judge him how you see fit."

Drake was shaking again. If he went over there again, he'd for sure end up like that other cat he saw. Ferncloud ran and stood in between Drake and Crookedstar, "No, please!"

Darkstripe smiled, his teeth shining with blood lust.

"However, since he is on our territory now, we will decide his fate."

Darkstripe's smile vanished. "What?!"

Ferncloud went to Crookedstar and put her head against his shoulder. "Thank you. We'll find out why he's here, don't worry."

Darkstripe held one paw out towards Drake, claws outstretched. "B-b-but he is mine. I was going to-"

"Stop Darkstripe. It's over." The other big tom came out of the shadows of the dead trees. He didn't look the same as before. He was frustrated, but calm. Angered, but sane. "Let's get out of here. This place reeks of mouse-brains."

Darkstripe clenched his teeth and walked back into the mist and trees. Crookedstar peered at the big tom as he too went back into the forest.

"Let's go loner. Follow me." Crookedstar walked back on the path into StarClan. Ferncloud came over to Drake and tilted her head in the direction Crookedstar went. Drake followed silently, able to finally relax, for he had finally found somewhere he wouldn't have to worry about getting killed.


	4. Chapter 3

Every step in StarClan was like a undescribable pleasing sensation. Drake didn't know if it was just him, but it felt like the whole forest loved him. The trees were shining brown and green and the sky was a very dark but shining blue. Drake could hear animals including birds, voles, and even mice living in the forest. He could see clearly and spot some burrows where mice tried to hide from cats. Even the ground was soft and nice under his paws. It was the exact opposite of the Dark Forest.

Crookedstar was leading Drake while Ferncloud took up the rear. The bushes around them whistled with a slight wind. It seemed that StarClan was just like a normal forest, except the prey was forever rich and everything was in harmony.

Drake could barely grasp sense in any of this though. He still had no idea how he has been showing up here for the past two nights and if he can't figure out why soon, the cats here might do something to him. Or will they? All he heard from his mother that she heard my father say that StarClan was supposed to be a place where the forest clan cats went after they died with a respectful past. All these cats though, from StarClan and the Dark Forest, seemed pretty menacing and looked like they could kill him anytime they wanted.

Crookedstar glimpsed behind at Drake with one eye. He studied him for a couple seconds, then looked ahead again. "We should be getting close to camp momentarily. Stay close and follow me."

Ferncloud caught up to Drake and whispered into his ear, "The cats here might be surprised to see a loner in their camp, so don't be afraid if they stare at you."

Drake whispered back, "How would they know I'm a loner?"

Ferncloud looked at Crookedstar. "They can smell it on you, like Crookedstar did."

Drake soon saw a huge wall of leaves up ahead. Crookedstar shoved his way through them. Ferncloud leaped ahead and moved some of the leaves out of Drake's way to pass. Drake slowly made his way through the huge thistle bush, trying to avoid getting any of the thistles on his fur. Then, a light appeared ahead where Crookedstar passed through.

Drake exited the thistles and found himself looking at a huge camp of various cats and multiple dens. Trees rose from many spots around the border. Small dens scattered around the clearing either in the tall grass, in burrows, or in reeds. In the center of the clearing was a big pile of prey. On one side of the camp, big cats with thick pelts were talking next to a small stream. Another group of cats were small and thin pelted, talking to each other on a small patch of hilly grass. It seemed that all the cats had different attributes that made them unique.

As Drake approached the clearing behind Crookedstar, cats started to notice him and stop talking. They gazed at him as he walked. Even some cats in the small dens peered outside to see Drake. He felt so alone for those moments that he hoped to wake up. Ferncloud reassured him by nudging him forward to stand beside Crookedstar, but Drake didn't comply and stayed two tail-lengths behind.

Soon, they had crossed the clearing had made their way along a wide path. Drake still wondered where they were going.

Then he saw it. A small stream led to a huge reflective pool. It's shine revealed a forest in it's reflection. Around the pond, a group of cats were settled on the opposite side, looking at them as they approached. For some reason, this place seemed familiar to him, like he's been here before.

Ferncloud stopped Drake from taking anymore steps. Crookedstar made his to the other cats on the other side and sat down next to an orange tom with green eyes. At first, his pelt seemed like fire in the white glow of the sky. Crookedstar spoke to him, making it hard for Drake to over hear anything he was saying. Drake did hear a gasp from the orange cat. After what seemed like a moon to Drake, the orange tom spoke up.

"Leaders of StarClan, this cat is a loner from the twolegplace near our old home. For reasons unknown, he has been sent here and appeared first in the Dark Forest, but Ferncloud risked her life and the code to fish him out of there. First let's settle one point with Ferncloud." He shook his head and looked down, "Why Ferncloud? You know it is forbidden to go into the Dark Forest."

Ferncloud stood in front of Drake. "I sensed something was going on in the Dark Forest after overhearing Darkstripe near the border. He was talking with Thistleclaw about a meeting with a special cat, and I know that the Dark Forest wasn't meant to have meetings. It was meant to make cats wander and take punishment for their actions. When I first traveled to the other side, I spotted Drake here and found out he wasn't part of the Dark Forest, so I suspected maybe this was the cat they were talking about."

Another cat spoke up. He was a tall black and white tom with a long tail. His eyes were hazel as he looked at Ferncloud. "That still does not mean you can break the rules like that. And what of the second time you snuck out today, hm?"

Ferncloud rubbed her paw on the dirt. "Well, Drake woke up last time before I could get him here, but I snuck out today to fetch him and found him floating in the muddy river. And before I could get him here, we had to run from Darkstripe."

Yet another cat spoke up. It was a she-cat with patchy tabby fur and glowing amber eyes. Her voice was very stern. "No matter what you say, you will not erase the fact that you broke the rules. Yet, I know by much experience that sometimes doing the right thing," She looked towards the orange tom and smiled, "Does require a little code-breaking on their part. It is a law that no Dark Forest cat can interact with another living cat in his sleep."

Ferncloud made her way back to camp. They were done with her. Drake stepped forward as the orange tom continued, "Crookedstar says that Darkstripe claims that this loner... Drake came to the Dark Forest by his own will. Is this true young one?"

Drake looked up to him with his fur flat and eyes round. "No. I have no idea why I'm here. My life is nothing special to the warrior cats as I know of. Though I have heard stories from my grandfather about how his father praised you cats. But I don't think I have any ties with StarClan or any ways to get myself into the Dark Forest in my dreams."

"We all know that Darkstripe doesn't always tell the truth, but if he is, it is strange," The orange cat started to walk around the pool over to Drake, "that a cat like you could come here. Tell me, everyone says you're a loner, but are you truely one?"

Drake thought for a moment. "Yes, but I never wanted to be one. A fire ravaged my twoleg's den while me and my mother were in it. Only I made it out. Next thing I know, I'm alone in the twolegplace, trying to avoid vicious cats."

The orange cat had almost arrived in front of me. "I still don't understand. Are you sure that you don't know any clan cats or have met any warriors?"

"No, not any warriors. But if you count Bloodclan as a clan, I saw Scourge's grandson start to take over the twolegplace."

Immediately, all the cats around the pond gasped and looked straight at Drake. The orange tom stopped pacing towards him. They all stood like they were looking at the twoleg monster on a thunderpath. The orange cat continued speaking, "Scourge had kits before he fought with me?"

The tall tom spoke up, "If BloodClan is back and approaches the clans, that could spell disaster."

Drake spoke again, "Not only that, but he has already gotten most cats in the twolegplace to follow him. I haven't heard anything about him going to the clans, but he did say that Scourge lives in him."

The orange tom finally got in front of Drake. "Well, that might be a reason to come here to StarClan, but that doesn't make everything clear. Why do you come here now?"

"I can answer that Firestar."

Suddenly, a massive cat appeared out of thin air. He had a ginger pelt with green eyes and a scratch ear. He stood behind Firestar. "I saw potential in this cat. I was reminiscing on the past, walking in our old territories when I stumbled upon the new Scourge as well. Before I came back here, I saw this loner suffer many losses, yet he had a pure heart. A warrior heart. When I summoned him here, he appeared in the Dark Forest because you can only come to StarClan if you know of them."

Firestar turned slowly, "You did this Pinestar?"

Pinestar bowed his head. "I will take full responsibility."

Firestar looked to the other cats around the pool, "Well, what should we do with him? Both Pinestar and Drake. Crookedstar?"

Crookedstar stood up. "I believe that Drake has suffered much and it's not his fault that he is here. Pinestar has broken the code many, many times before, too. I don't know what to say. Tallstar?"

The tall tom replied, "Pinestar, I don't believe you summoned this cat here to inform us about BloodClan because you could've done that yourself. Do you really think he even wants to become a warrior? And why?"

Drake shouted, "I had thought if I could prove myself before that I could join the clans. There is nothing left for me as a kittypet or a loner. I'm done being pushed around as well, both in real life and in the Dark Forest. I felt so weak, helpless to stop BloodClan from killing my friend or facing Darkstripe. I want to be brave, like all of you."

The tabby she-cat narrowed her eyes at Pinestar. "That's not the only reason, is it Pinestar? You have another reason, don't you?"

Pinestar stepped forward to the edge of the pool. He looked into the water. "I want to make up for my mistakes, Leopardstar. My biggest mistake was letting that fox-dung cat teach my son, Tigerstar, to be a clan killer. If this works, then I hope to atone for all of them, from leaving my clan to leaving my son."

The other cat by the pool spoke, "And what exactly is 'this'?" He was a small tom with a glossy black pelt and yellow eyes. "I can relate to your mistakes, letting someone train a killer. I'm sorry for training Brokenstar to be so vengeful and devious. But what do you think this cat can do to help you get your reputation back?"

Pinestar looked at the small tom and proudly said, "Nightstar, I believe that this loner really wants courage to fight his oppressors. BloodClan must be stopped before they get a chance to strike the clans at their weakest. If Drake here, is able to train a group of loners himself into warriors, he might be able to combat BloodClan when they arrive at the lake."

"So it is confirmed that BloodClan seeks revenge for their dead leader?"

"Yes, and not only is BloodClan heading this way, Sol is also gathering cats from the twolegplaces."

More of them were taken aback. Tallstar leaped across the grass and got close to Pinestar. "You saw all of this on your venture back to our old territory? BloodClan and Sol."

"All of them want their revenge on the clans, and their groups are the sizes of all the clans put together already. The clans cannot leave their homes to fight BloodClan and Sol, so I thought Drake might be able to be trained to train others like him. We cannot fight with BloodClan and Sol right now, but Drake might be able to gather more cats to fight alongside the clans and stop them."

Drake was very surprised by the mission he was being given. He asked himself, do I really have the potential to do all of this? Can I really fight cats like Garve and Kurk, or even Scourge and stand a chance? Drake could believe these cats could fight BloodClan, but could they teach him to be like them? He walked to the edge of the pool and announced, "I can do it. Just tell me how to stop BloodClan. I will obey everything you command me to do if you can teach me to have courage and face those monsters."

Pinestar smirked at Drake for a second, and looked to Firestar. "Well, Firestar? Can you trust me?"

Firestar gazed around the pool to the other leaders. They all nodded. "Pinestar, I can see success in your plan. If it works, then it might make up some of your mistakes. Thank you for informing us about everything." He set out walking back to his position on the other side of the pond. "Our final decision now, leaders of StarClan, is how to train this loner into a warrior."

"Well, what did I do with you when you first came to ThunderClan?" A cat came out of the trees by the stream. It was a she-cat with gray-blue fur with a scar on her shoulder, a broad face, and icy blue eyes. She spoke with a laugh in her tone. "What did we do first when I found you? Remember?"

Firestar looked at the camp behind, "I think he'd still be good for Drake here." He smiled at the newcomer, "I could never forget that, Bluestar."

Bluestar came up to Drake and stared into his eyes. "First, we'll give him time to make his decision."

Drake stepped closer to her. "But I'm ready now. I'm ready to follow you to the end."

Bluestar's voice became hard. "If you want to become a clan cat, you can never go back to a kittypet like Pinestar did here." Pinestar backed away a bit. "You must never abandon the code of the the clans, never give up! You will face many cats that want to kill you!" Drake crumbled under the weight of her words. "You must be committed, respectful, and brave! This is similar to what I told Firestar here when he joined. Are you prepared to take that promise like he did?"

Drake didn't reply. Her words pierced through his pride. Even Pinestar was timid with her.

"That's why we'll give you time to decide. Tomorrow, we will ask you in your dreams if you will join the clans." She walked slowly back into the trees, staring at Pinestar. Firestar watched her leave with a long smile across his face.

"I love seeing that once more. It reminds me so much when I first joined." Firestar sat back down and said, "Well, you heard her. Tomorrow, we want you to travel to highstones near a farm by your twolegplace. It is a day's travel, so make your decision quick and we will give you a guide to follow to moonstone. You are dismissed."

Pinestar walked past Drake as StarClan started to disappear. "You'll do great."


	5. Chapter 4

Drake woke up with the same things the previous morning. He started by eating the berries he knocked away and watched some twolegs pass by the path next to his hiding place. They always looked so happy and content, no worries in the world.

With the rising sun, Drake pondered what he would do. Would he say no and continue a loner or hope to be with another twoleg, or should he join the ranks of the clans to become brave and help them? The choice might have been clear the first time he thought of it, but when he thought of the risk of getting killed, it made him shiver. BloodClan was infamous and cruel, and they also wanted him to face a cat named Sol who sounded just as dangerous as BloodClan. Drake slid out of the bush and shook the leaves off his fur. He looked at the huge stones on the horizon and saw the closest one. That must be Highstones, he thought. With a quick start, he followed the path laid out in front of him.

Around him was a big field with high grass. The sky was cloudy with scattered black clouds all over. The sun tried to shine through the cracks between the clouds. Far in front of him, sharp pine trees rose high beyond a small thunderpath. The monsters roared across the path like fire. They could kill cats instantly, even worse than BloodClan. Drake felt instant horror. He had been taught how to cross thunderpaths, but he was with Henry. Now, he had no one to guide him, so how could he cross?

He still followed the path as it twisted and turned, making him waver a bit. The thunderpath was getting closer. What would he do? He scanned the area around the thunderpath to find another way across, but he didn't see any. The only way across was to avoid the monsters. Drake kept thinking, be brave be brave. He was taught how to cross them. Don't let fear erase those memories.

He was at the edge of the reeking ground of the thunderpath. The monsters roared by every moment he lifted a paw to try and cross. He scoped the other side of the thunderpath into the shade of the pines. Something was rustling the bushes on the other side. Drake narrowed his eyes. What was it? Suddenly, a shadow came out of the bush.

A rabbit. Oh, Drake thought it was some kind of cat like-

"Boo!"

Drake jumped from a voice behind him. He ran into the nearby tall grass and looked behind him. It was a small black she-cat with strange white patches on her chest. Her eyes were an amber and she had small, stubby ears. She laughed, clumsily falling onto her back. "Oh, you must be Drake, the one who gets scared everytime he hears a voice."

She didn't seem dangerous, so Drake stopped running and started to walk back to the path. Drake hit his head with one paw and shook his head. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The black she-cat got back to her feet and licked her paws. "No, but I know you. StarClan sent me here from the farm up ahead to fetch you. They said that you were like a mouse who scurries away everytime he hears something. They were right." She snickered. "I've been watching you try to cross the thunderpath for a while now. Too scared, are you?"

"No." Drake reacted immediately. "No, I just didn't see a time to cross yet."

She walked to the edge of the path and looked both ways. "If you couldn't find a time then, you'll be here all day." She motioned her tail for him to come up to her. "Come on and I'll tell you when to cross."

Drake walked next to her and held his breath. The smell of the horrid ground rose to his nose. It smelled as horrible as mouse dung. The she-cat kept looking both ways as monsters drove across. She tensed her legs and started to cross. She ran like the wind, arriving on the other side, unscathed, in a matter of moments. The monsters started driving across again.

"See, nothin to it. Now I want you to step forward one-whisker from the thunderpath and look both ways for an opening and I'll tell you when to cross." She made her way next to a tree and sat there. Drake steadied himself. He waited for the she-cat's signal to cross.

After a monster passed for the third time, she yelled, "Now!" Drake ran like he did when Darkstripe was chasing him. He crossed the middle line of the thunderpath as he started to hear another monster. Drake started to slow down. The she-cat yelled again, "Don't give up! Keep going!"

Drake gained a burst of speed and jumped into the bushes. The roar of the monster passed by. Drake was panting as he came out of the bush next to the she-cat. She laughed and said, "You were definitely not meant to be a WindClan cat. Follow me through RiverClan." He watched as she stood up and made her way through the pines. "Oh, and my name is Dawnpaw."

They traveled through a bunch of small twoleg's pelted dens. They avoided any twolegs by hiding in the tall grass around them. All of the twolegs were either playing in the streams of water nearby with barely any pelts on or throwing some kind of twoleg thing into the water to catch fish. Weird twolegs. There were also some she-twolegs folding some kind of big pelt she took out of the small dens. Twolegs were just too strange for him, even though he lived with one for 6 moons.

Dawnpaw was skipping happily while Drake walked timidly. She seemed so excited to meet a new cat, Drake thought. She looks like she hadn't talked to a cat for a long time. But her happy skip didn't last for long.

The sun was rising high when they approached some kind of high cattails. Dawnpaw's walk stopped being cheerful and went back to normal. She looked at Drake and sighed, "I want to show you where RiverClan lived many moons ago, but it looked much better than it does now, so don't judge them by this." She went into the cattails as he followed. Dawnpaw was ahead by one tail-length.

Then, they came upon an opening and entered what used to be RiverClan's camp. Threaded cattails were shaped to what looked like dens. In the clearing, a pile of bones showed what used to be prey. One burrow looked like another den, but it was caved in so he couldn't look inside. Another path was on the other side of the camp that seemed to lead to the nearby river. RiverClan seemed to be located in a dip in the ground. A big den that was also caved in a bit seemed to be where a lot of cats used to sleep.

Dawnpaw led Drake through quickly, like she was ashamed to even look at the old camp. Drake caught up to her and laid his shoulder on her to comfort her. She finally told him what was bothering her. "My grandfather helped the last of the RiverClan cats here. He fetched them prey and gave them medicine until they died. He prayed to StarClan to remember him when the Clans left, and they answered his prayers finally."

"How did he know?"

"He's in StarClan now, and of course you're here."

They reached a big bridge over the river below. It didn't take them long to cross. But instead of being in tall grass, they were on hilly plains with short grass now. Drake could smell the faint traces of rabbit all over. He looked at Dawnpaw and asked, "Why did the clans leave? This place seems fine."

Dawnpaw pointed her head. Far away across the river, a jumble of gigantic monsters and twoleg dens scattered across a plain full of cut trees. They roared even louder that the ones on the thunderpath. They ravaged the land of animals, trees, and any life at all and replaced it with twoleg dens. Drake looked back at Dawnpaw and replied, "I see. There must have been many cats in the clans to take up such amounts of territory."

She nodded.

The sun was getting lower. It fell behind them as they were halfway across the plains. Drake could see a huge twoleg den up ahead of them. Drake's paws were getting worn. He asked, "Hey, can we take a break for a minute. My pads are sore." Dawnpaw looked down at his paws and saw how they were part torn.

She stopped Drake and dashed away toward some bushes nearby. "Just a sec. I'll be right back."

After a while, she came back. Dawnpaw was holding some kind of plant in her mouth. She was also chewing it up to a pulp. When she spat it out, she looked at Drake. "Here, rub this on your paws and then we can get going again.

Drake did what she said. As he rubbed the pulp on his pads, they felt cooler. "How did you do that?"

Dawnpaw smiled. "I was taught to heal. I know all the berries and leaves that can heal pads, belly aches, even whitecough."

"How did you learn all that?"

"My grandfather wasn't the only one reassured StarClan was watching him. StarClan gifted me the wisdom." Dawnpaw continued to walk. Drake followed. They still had a long way to go. Dawnpaw sped up her pace. She spoke up, "Drake, we need to hurry. You need to get to highstones by moonhigh, or you'll miss your deadline."

Drake quickened his pace as well.

They arrived at the big twoleg den in no time after they went a bit faster, but the sun was starting to set. Around the den was very tall yellow grass. Drake could smell various scents of juicy mice. He licked his lips. By the twoleg den was another, which was smaller, but looked like it housed twolegs. He could see many twoleg things scattered outside it. Dawnpaw walked to the bigger den though. Strange scents hit Drake's nose as he approached it. Drake asked, "What is this place?"

Dawnpaw licked her paws again. "This is my home. The barn I mentioned earlier." She made her way towards the big wooden den.

"Really, you're a kittypet?"

She motioned for Drake to follow. "No, I'm kinda half loner, half warrior cat. But I'm all dangerous, as you can see." She swayed her tail, as she went around the barn and pushed herself inside through a small hole in the side of the wall. Drake could hear her say, "Mom, I'm home." He didn't know if he should go inside as well, but he made his way inside anyways.

Inside the den were more dens housing some kind of big animals with white pelts and black spots. Other dens were habited with gigantic animals with brown pelts and long mussels. They looked dangerous and weird. Why would twolegs keep these animals here. Drake saw Dawnpaw climb some kind of twoleg steps to a higher place above the lower dens. He could hear her talk to another cat.

"Hey mom, I'm finally back."

"Oh, hey Dawnpaw. Did your vision come true?"

"Yeah, the cat StarClan led me to is right down there."

Drake saw a cat look down at him. It was a she-cat with a brown pelt and black spots all over. Her ears were small like Dawnpaw's and she had a black mussel. She smiled at me as she looked back at Dawnpaw. "Ooh, he's cute honey."

"Mom! Don't say that in front of him!"

"Okay, okay."

The brown she-cat came down the steps across the clearing from Drake. As she got closer to Drake, she introduced herself. "My name is Gingerpaw. Nice to meet you."

Drake bowed his head, "Are you the daughter of the warrior who lived here when the clans lived here?"

"No, that's my mate's father. He should be getting mice from the fields by now. He'll come back shortly. Will you join us for a snack?"

Dawnpaw interrupted, "No, mom. We have to get to Highstones now or he won't be able to see StarClan." She jumped down as well.

Gingerpaw leaped back towards the steps, "Oh, yes. You must be going quickly. The sun's already down." As she passed Dawnpaw, she licked her behind the ear.

"Mom! I'm not a kit!"

"Well, you're my daughter, and I'll never stop calling you my little Dawnkit."

"Ugh, mom."

Dawnpaw led him out of the barn through the small hole again. After Drake slid out, she was already halfway across the clearing yelling, "Come on, keep up Drake!" He sprinted, but it still took him a couple seconds to catch up. He could finally tell someone this.

"I'm not the fastest of my litter, so don't go too fast."

Dawnpaw slowed down. "Well, you could have told me that in the first place."

They had to pass another thunderpath, but Drake was able to cross it easier than the last one with Dawnpaw. The moon was rising when they arrived at a big dip in the ground that led to an entrance to Highstones. It was a huge cavern that looked pitch-black inside. Dawnpaw went over to a patch of grass and soft soil. "We can rest for right now until the moon rises higher."

Drake rubbed his empty belly. "Hey, can I find some food?"

Dawnpaw lifted her head. "No, sorry it's tradition. Anybody who goes to the moonstone munt not eat anything until after the meeting. You can't probably catch anything anyways."

"Yes I can!" No he couldn't. Henry had showed him how to catch mice, but he failed every time. Henry had to catch the mice for him.

Time passed quickly. Dawnpaw sat up and announced, "It's time Drake. Lets go inside." Dawnpaw slowly closed in on the entrance to the cave. "Follow close behind and try to follow my scent. Do not say anything while we journey to moonstone."

Drake ran up next to her. "Is it that special?"

"Shh!"

They made their way inside the dark cavern. Drake couldn't tell where the walls were. He accidently bumped his head one time. He tried to follow Dawnpaw's scent, but it was hard to find with his nose crashing into another wall and dust falling onto him. This cavern must have been really old. Finally, he found her scent and followed until he didn't need to. A light lit up the whole cave deeper inside. Drake could see Dawnpaw gazing toward the light source. He ran up to her and looked with her.

A single moon beam of light fell upon a huge glowing rock three tail-lengths. It shone like StarClan's sky itself. Dawnpaw led him into the cavern next to the rock. She guided him to the foot of the rock, then, she touched her nose to it. Drake did the same and touched it. It was cool, but warm. He felt the sensation he felt in StarClan. He closed his eyes, drifting away.

When Drake opened his eyes, he found himself in the StarClan forest again, except he couldn't smell, hear, or see any animals at all. No prey was hiding in the brush or digging burrows in the ground. Even worse, there were less trees. The StarClan he was standing in was desolate, and had some of that mist from the Dark Forest in it. He looked around trying to find any cat at all.

"Dawnpaw? Firestar? Bluestar? Ferncloud? I'm here! I have made my decision." He kept searching for some kind of indication a cat was around. He couldn't find any scent, no footprints in the ground either.

"So, you're the pathetic mouse-brain loner wanting to join the clans?"

A shadow passed in front of Drake like lightning. Drake backed away next to a tree. What was that? Drake yelled, "Who are you?"

"What's your decision, eh?" It passed by him again. He couldn't make out if the shadow was even a cat.

Drake crouched as he replied, "I want to join the clans, to learn how to be brave."

"I'm sorry, but you have to be brave to even get to join the clans." This time, when the shadow passed by him, it scratched him across his flank. Drake recoiled with the injury. He wasn't sure if he was in StarClan or the Dark Forest anymore. It was kind of a mix of both.

"If you're not brave, you don't deserve to become a clan cat. You don't have clan blood in your veins. You don't even have a hint of courage." The shadow appeared in front of him, and Drake was finally able to make it out.

It was a huge tom with pale silver fur and black stripes. Drake would have believed it to be Darkstripe until he saw the tom's incredibly long tail and a big nick on his ear. His eyes glowed like they hadn't been used in moons.

"Only if you knew how good it was to receive your vision again after a long life. It feels so good that I can't let anything ruin the moment, like a pathetic used-to-be kittypet joining the clans again."

Drake couldn't find a way around the tom. "W-who are you?"

The tom cackled a laugh. "I am Longtail, and I will be your challenger. You can't join the clans without going through me."

Drake swallowed hard. He was going to face a full grown warrior cat. Alone.


	6. Chapter 5

"Prove to me Pinestar saw something in you."

Longtail charged at Drake quickly, scratching him on the cheek and kicking him in the side. Drake fell sideways onto the ground, kicking up dirt when he hit. He got up and unsheathed his claws. Longtail was whipping around the trees. Drake couldn't see a way to dodge him. He was just too fast.

Suddenly, Longtail passed Drake while grabbing Drake's neck with his extremely long tail. He lashed his tail onto the ground, bringing Drake down with it. Drake's face was already torn up as it was from Garve before. Now he had more scratches over his face, and it hurt. Wasn't this just a dream? How could he feel pain when it was just a dream?

Drake got up once again. He watched for any kind of pattern in Longtail's attacks, but they were completely random. Everytime Drake tried to run, he was knocked back down by Longtail's kicks, or if Drake tried to slash at him, he simply dodged it and countered. What chance did he stand against this cat?

"See... you're nothing but a mouse-brained loner, without bravery, or a hint of intimidation. Those can be important when wanting others to join your silly group. Who wants a cowardly leader?" Longtail's words were even worse than Bluestar's. With every hit Drake took, he just got back up again. He wasn't going to give up after all he had been through. Losing his family, friends... He could withstand anything.

Longtail kept scratching him and kicking him down, but he just continued to get up. Longtail started to get annoyed. "Why won't you stay down, loner? Don't you know it's helpless to beat me?"

Drake struggled to keep to his feet. Blood was dripping across his body. "I'm not as weak as you are."

"Why you!?" Longtail's attacks became more frequent. Drake then realized something. His tail might be his greatest weapon, but...

Longtail took a swipe at Drake, but he missed after he stepped back. Longtail had to balance himself, and that's when Drake saw his chance. Drakes bit down on Longtail's tail and threw him against a tree.

Longtail's back cracked hard against the tree. Drake could see Longtail's tail was also very damaged from his bite. Was he that strong?

Longtail got back up, his eyes filled with fury. "You mouse-dung. Why won't you just run away?"

"That's just it Longtail. I have nothing to run to."

Longtail's eyes widened and looked intrigued. "What do you mean? You can run back to the twolegs."

Drake sat down. His injuries stung him, but he was able to stutter out his words. "I don't have the twolegs trust anymore...huff... The twolegs...huff... The twolegs were the ones who killed my family..." He felt twice the pain digging out his memories, "... First my father was killed on the thunderpath...huff... From one of those monsters they created...huff... And then from another twoleg who lit a fire in my den." Drake's eyes were filled with tears. "See, I have no love for the twolegs anymore after they killed my family. I have no interest in being a loner after my friend was killed by BloodClan. I have nothing to run to. This is the only chance to earn something like that. Be in a clan. If I'm overwhelmed, I can run back to my clan for support. And I'm not giving up this chance!" Drake rushed at Longtail.

Longtail was too crippled to move. He could only move a step before Drake hit him in his flank and slashed at his neck. Longtail flew across the ground and skidded until he hit a tree.

Drake ran at him again, ready to kill.

"Stop, that is enough Drake."

Firestar appeared in front of Drake. He held Drake's paw. Drake was breathing hard, but Firestar stared at him seriously. "You must learn to stop before you kill, Drake. Or that anger will consume you. On of the codes we follow is to know when to cease the fighting. Only BloodClan and loners fight to kill."

Drake backed away and cleaned his fur. The blood stained his fur. "You forgot the Dark Forest cats. Don't they kill? This cat looked a lot like one, and I couldn't tell if I was in StarClan or the Dark Forest here in this mist."

Firestar helped Longtail to his feet. He supported Longtail as they walked close to Drake. Firestar smirked, "I can see how you mistook Longtail for a Dark Forest cat."

Longtail tried to recover his breath. "You are strong, aren't you? You were just too afraid to even notice it. But next time our paths cross Drake," He pushed Firestar away and stood by himself. "I won't be going easy on you." Longtail looked too crippled to walk, but he was able to. He walked into the mist and disappeared.

Firestar laughed for a second. "That's exactly what I had to face when I became a clan cat, but it went a bit differently than it did here." He looked at Drake's wounds and pointed his paw at them, "And I definitely didn't get that many injuries. Come on and follow me. We'll get those patched up in no time."

"There's no need."

Around the bend of the trees, Dawnpaw was hopping across the grass. She was holding leaves in her mouth. "I saw the fight and went immediately to finding herbs." She set the leaves down and looked at Drake as well. She walked around him, and with each step, her eyes widened even further. "What, did you fight a badger after that other cat?"

Firestar walked close to Dawnpaw. "What's your name, ever so interesting one?"

Dawnpaw organized the herbs she collected. "Dawnpaw."

Firestar gazed at her, then to Drake, then back at her.

Drake frowned. "No, I know what you're thinking. We aren't..."

Dawnpaw overheard him and looked at Firestar too, "Absolutely not!"

Firestar backed away a couple steps. "Okay, okay. So you were the messenger, Dawnpaw? Because you remind me of... Ravenpaw."

She started to wrap the leaves. "Yeah, he was my grandfather."

"Have you seen him recently?"

Dawnpaw grabbed the berries and said, "Eat these Drake." She turned to Firestar, "No, I've only heard stories of him from my father. I haven't met-"

"Well, I've come to say hi anyways." A figure appeared behind Firestar. It was a sleek black tom with white splotches on his chest and the tip of his tail. He approached Dawnpaw. "You're much more prideful than I used to be. You must have gotten all that confidence from your mother."

"So, you are my grandfather?" Dawnpaw didn't know what to do. Drake could see she felt some emotion, but did she really respect her grandfather that much? Dawnpaw stood up and said with her head held high, "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, okay. Well... It's nice to meet you too. I'm glad to see my family still carries StarClan tradition." Ravenpaw was lost with words. Dawnpaw turned back to Drake.

Ravenpaw looked at Drake. He smiled and mouthed his words at him. "Take her with you."

"Drake, rub those leaves onto your fur." She went to fixing Drake's scratches again.

Firestar grinned at Ravenpaw and rolled his eyes. He announced, "We must be going. Some cats are waiting for you to arrive."

Drake got up, his injuries still aching. "What do you mean? Why are they waiting?"

"You are ready to become a clan cat Drake. We need to initiate you and give you your warrior... I mean, apprentice name."

Drake became excited. He was actually going to become a clan cat. It felt like he belonged with them. Drake strutted with Firestar into the trees, with Ravenpaw and Dawnpaw close behind.

"StarClan approves of your acceptance into the clans." Bluestar was standing on a high rock in the middle of the clearing. Around the clearing, nothing but one tall tree stood. The rest of the clearing had messy grass and rough soil, but the mist had cleared and Drake could see more. Around the huge rock, cats of all kinds stood to watch Drake, a loner, become a clan cat. Become brave. He could recognize some of them. Ferncloud, Ravenpaw, an injured Longtail, Dawnpaw of course, and surprisingly, Pinestar. Lots of the other cats looked special too.

Atop the rock, five leaders stood side to side. Bluestar was in the middle, announcing his ceremony into the clans. "We have tested this loner to see if he deserved to become a clan cat, and as you can see by Longtail's wounds, I believe he has proven his strength. But before we initiate the ceremony, I want to see if he has proven himself worthy in spirit."

Drake tried to sit calmly, but Bluestar had such a rough tone that he shook a little. He tried to stand firm.

"Drake, what have you learned today from all your experiences? What does a warrior do?" Bluestar sat while all the other leaders stood.

Drake paused. What did he learn? What did she mean by that? What DID he learn today? The question seemed too vague to him until he remembered what Firestar said after the fight... Drake puffed out his chest. "I learned to know when to stop fighting. To give mercy to the ones who want to kill you."

Firestar sat down and replied, "That is a very important lesson to learn throughout your future travels. I've seen many a cats corrupted by not following that rule."

Three cats still stood.

Drake saw that each cat represented a lesson he learned. Drake kept thinking. It was becoming a hassle to find any lessons in today's events that weren't already told to him. Luckily, he found another. "No matter how many cats insult you, never give in to anger or submission."

Nightstar sat. "One of the most powerful weapons are words. Ignore the ones that may hurt your feelings in combat, for if you lose control during a fight, you will weaken yourself."

Two cats stood.

Drake remembered when Dawnpaw helped his paws by soothing them during the travel. "Always put your clanmates before the mission, no matter how important the mission is." Dawnpaw nodded at him.

Leopardstar sat. "I had to learn that the hard way through my life, leading many cats to die for such a small gain."

Crookedstar stood alone. His eyes were filled with pride.

Though, something inside Drake felt like this answer was simple to him, but he couldn't find it. This was the lesson he was hoping to gain from becoming a clan cat. It was right in front of him... That's it, he thought. Crossing the street...

"Always rely on others for guidance when you cannot provide it for yourself. That's what I always wanted for myself. Guidance."

Crookedstar sat, but his reply was unrelenting, "This must be implemented into your life for a short time, but do not forget that YOU will be relied on for guidance when you start to collect cats for your new clan."

Bluestar stood again, "I trust this cat has learned some of the ways of the clans and can become a clan cat himself. Does anyone disagree that this cat has not proven himself to be worthy to become a warrior?"

No one said a word. Drake could see Longtail twitch his whiskers, wanting to say something. But he knew that he didn't have proof to stop Drake from becoming a clan cat.

"Alright then." Bluestar raised a paw and closed her eyes. "By the power of StarClan, I grant you the name... Echopaw, for your willingness to be guided, until your warrior training has ended."

The crowd of cats started cheering. "Echopaw! Echopaw!" Even Longtail was silently cheering.

The leaders broke apart, each going their separate ways except for Firestar and Bluestar. They jumped down and stood in front of Echopaw. Firestar sighed with relief. "For a second there, I thought you weren't going to pass the second test."

"But he did." Bluestar raised her head. "You have been granted an important task by Pinestar. You must show loners and kittypets in the Big Twolegplace that you can lead them to fight against BloodClan. You will also prevent another cat named Sol from gathering forces, and let us forbid they do not join together. To help you for a short time, we will send some cats from ThunderClan to train you until you can become a warrior. Come back to the moonstone tomorrow night, and their names will be revealed. They should arrive at the other side of the Big Twolegplace in about half a moon. But before that, we must name this new clan."

Dawnpaw came next to Echopaw. Pinestar slowly came over as well. Pinestar spoke up, "May I make a suggestion Bluestar?"

Bluestar grimly looked at Pinestar, "What do you recommend, Pinestar?"

"StoneClan, for standing strong against impossible odds."

"Hmm, interesting thought." She fixed her gaze at Echopaw. " Echopaw, what do you think?"

Echopaw looked at Dawnpaw, and then Pinestar. He finally shouted, "StoneClan stands strong!"

Echopaw opened his eyes to blackness. The stone had stopped shining after the moon had continued it's path across the sky. He could see better after adapting his eyes to the darkness. Dawnpaw was standing at the exit of the cavern, waiting on him. He had become a clan cat, and will soon become a warrior. Echopaw followed Dawnpaw outside of the cave. He started to laugh when he got out. Dawnpaw joined in as well. The long day was over.

"Now!"

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Dawnpaw stared at the ground for a second, and looked behind her. Echo paw did too.

Rocks were falling down the side of Highstones. Rocks big enough to crush cats their size.

Dawnpaw yelled to him, "Run!"

They ran as quick as they could, making their way to higher ground. The rocks started to crash onto the ground. Each one sounded closer to them than the one before. Echopaw found more speed than he did before. He was able to even able to outrun Dawnpaw.

They made it to high ground just in time as the last huge rock fell onto the others. Dawnpaw and Echopaw caught their breath for a second. Echopaw held his chest with a paw. "What was that?!"

Dawnpaw glimpsed at Highstones again. Her mouth gaped open for a second. "The entrance to the moonstone... It's gone!"

Echopaw peered past the rising dust and saw it as well. The entrance was completely blocked by rocks too big to move. His way to contact StarClan was gone. He would never find out who the cats were that were coming to train them.

"Let this be a warning to you cats!"

A she-cat was walking down the path leading up Highstones with two other toms by her side. She had black fur with weird white markings on her legs and ears. Her green eyes gleamed through the dust. Her voice was melodious in a scary way. "Scourge will not allow mouse-brained cats and their superstitious StarClan to stand in his way of killing his enemies."

Dawnpaw started to cry, but she tried not to show it. "Who are you fox-dung cats?!"

After the cats got closer to them, the she-cat grinned. Drake saw something he didn't see on her before.

She had a green collar on. With cat teeth all over it.

"I am Scourge's granddaughter... I am Trianity. And I will not allow you to ever stand in my brother's way!"


	7. Chapter 6

"It's so amazing what you can do when knocking a single rock down the mountain. It can cause a disaster."

Trianity stood tall, smiling at Echopaw and Dawnpaw. The animals of the night had gone silent. The moon had been covered by dark clouds and only some stars shone through. StarClan had left them. Their connection to them was no more after the entrance to moonstone had been buried in stones.

The farm was just across the thunderpath. Echopaw and Dawnpaw could try to flee, but they didn't know how fast Trianity or the cats next to her were. And if they didn't watch for monsters on the thunderpath, they might accidently cross at the wrong time. Trianity had them in her paws.

"Why?" Echopaw unsheathed his claws. "Why did you do that?!"

Trianity tilted her head and walked closer, "Why? I said before. This superstition of yours stands in the way of Scourge's rule. Let it be known as mercy we let you exit the caves before we triggered the stonefall."

Dawnpaw peered into Trianity's eyes. "How did you know about moonstone? The Scourge in the past didn't know about it, so how did you find out about it?"

"I have my sources." Trianity signaled with her tail for her guards to get closer to them. They slowly followed a step behind her. Trianity turned her head to Dawnpaw. "At the battle of the clans long ago, Scourge was killed when a cat that he already killed got back up and slashed his throat. How did that cat survive? That's when we did a little hunting for info. We found out a little about your rituals here from someone who had visited these lands long ago. I bet he's laughing about us burying such an important land spot for you cats." Trianity sat about three tail-lengths in front of Echopaw. "It was just coincidence you were here when we arrived, though. But, this makes for more fun."

"Then tell us this." Dawnpaw aggressively clawed at the ground she was standing on. Echopaw could tell she wanted to rip Trianity apart, but if Dawnpaw tried to even run at her, most likely Dawnpaw would be torn apart. "Why did you spare our lives then?"

Trianity licked her left paw, cleaning the dirt from the rocks off her claws. "That's just because we couldn't get a good view to watch you suffer inside a cave." After her final claw was cleaned off, she extended them. "I want to see you squirm when we kill you."

Suddenly, the two burly toms ran at Echopaw and Dawnpaw. They were fast, had scars all over their bodies from plenty of fights, and had the determination to kill in their eyes. Dawnpaw immediately began to run, but Echopaw knew there was no outrunning these killers. He stood his ground. He was prepare to get mauled.

"Echopaw, duck!" Dawnpaw shouted from behind Echopaw. He swiftly slid back and ducked.

Behind the nearby brush, two mysterious cats leaped with their claws outstretched. The two toms that were about to attack Echopaw were shoved onto the ground. Instantly, the mysterious cats started to scratch at the two toms. But, it didn't take long for the toms to get up and started countering hits.

Echopaw got back up and crouched to prepare to jump at Trianity. She was in total confusion, not expecting any moves by him. Echopaw ran as hard as he could and dug his claws into the earth to gain speed. Trianity noticed him and readied herself by crouching as well. Echopaw hit her with plenty of power into his charge. They began to tumble and fight, but Trianity only tussled for a few seconds before she was able to bite his hind leg and kick him straight in the neck. Echopaw keeled back, with Trianity holding his neck with her claws. Echopaw glimpsed for a second to see her bloodthirsty smile.

"Get off him!" Dawnpaw flew across the ground and forced Trianity off of Echopaw. Trianity rolled onto the ground and recovered from her fall. By the look of it, as her tail twitched randomly, her breathing really heavy, and eyes virtually searing through everything she was looking at, Trianity was more frustrated than any cat he's seen before.

"The power BloodClan possesses is much more than your pathetic StarClan. Scourge will have his revenge, not only on the clans of the forest, but StarClan as well, by any means possible!" Trianity backed away a few fox-lengths and shouted, "Let's get out of here. Jice, Larsh, fall back." She began running away, retreating in the direction she came. The mysterious cats were sure to slash a couple more times at Jice and Larsh before they could escape.

Dawnpaw skipped over to the other cats and laid her shoulder on one of their chests. "Thanks, dad."

Echopaw could see the one she laid her head on was a bigger tom with black fur, white fur on his paws, a slim body, and hefty muscles in his legs. He looked different and bigger than any other cat he's seen in their family. The other was a smaller tom, had brown fur with black stripes across his back, was very skinny and stealthy, and had a white patch of fur under his chin. Echopaw thought that he must be Dawnpaw's brother.

The father put a paw on Dawnpaw's head. "I haven't seen you this worried since StarClan gave you healing knowledge. We saw the rockfall and came as quickly as we could. Just... calm down." He licked her across the cheek. "We would never let anyone harm you." Dawnpaw rubbed her cheek with her paw.

The brother lifted his head to Echopaw. He asked, "Hey Dawnpaw, isn't that the cat you were talking about this morning? I hope you were able to get to moonstone before those foxes showed up."

Dawnpaw ran next to Echopaw and introduced him. "Yep, we made it just in time. This is Echopaw. Echopaw, this is my brother, Mudpaw, and this is my father, Crowpaw."

Being the toms of their family, they were bigger, stronger, and quicker than the she-cats of their family. He could understand that by the way they fought against Jice and Larsh. They looked like they could be warriors. Echopaw bowed his head. "Thank you, Mudpaw, Crowpaw."

Mudpaw tipped his head toward the farm. "Let's get back to the farm. We'll talk there. I think you all need a rest though, after a long day like that." Mudpaw started to trek across the hill to the edge of the thunderpath.

Dawnpaw and Crowpaw followed. Echopaw stood still for a couple seconds. He did a lot in one day. First, he woke up to regret for his dead friend, and met Dawnpaw and crossed the thunderpaths, WindClan territory, and RiverClan territory. Then, he traveled into the caves and connected to StarClan through moonstone. He fought Longtail, met Ravenpaw, and finally became an apprentice of the clans. Finally, he confronted Trianity as she sealed the entrance to moonstone and battled with Dawnpaw against her. Reflecting on the day made Echopaw really tired, ready to sleep if he layed down for even a second. He grabbed hold of reality and continued with Dawnpaw back to the farm.


	8. The Dreams

It didn't take much to put Echopaw to sleep. After he sat down for a wonderful meal of plump mice, he could barely keep his eyes open. Gingerpaw led him to a weird pile of yellow grass and made a small bed out of them. The grass wasn't as comforting as the brush he slept in before, but it was good enough to serve it's purpose. Echopaw fell into a deep sleep, one that was different than the nights before. Something wasn't right. He could feel himself twist and turn his body in his dreams. Ominous voice cut through the darkness of his dream.

"Are you looking for someone?"

In his dream, Echopaw stood in a strange Twoleg den. Around him, everything was made of that shiny, hard, silver material the twolegs use to make monsters. It was just a den with nothing in it but the shiny, hard walls. But, as he looked closer, one side of the den was covered in shadows. He could see a small red light staring at him from the center of the darkness. He could hear the voice again.

"Well, it looks like a strange cat to me. What's your name, huh?"

Echopaw took a little time to reply. "Echopaw."

"Your a clan cat..?"

All of a sudden, the world around him shifted. The walls turned into the pathway color like the one he was in before with Henry. The walls were tabby-like and down the path was darkness again. This time, he could see gray eyes looking at him, with some kind of aura behind him. The voice was creepy, with a tinge of fear in it.

"So this is the cat he was talking about... Why are you here?"

Echopaw couldn't understand what he was seeing. What were these voices he was hearing? He had never heard anything like them before. And the location they were all coming from were new to him as well. Who were these... things? Echopaw decided to follow along with it. "I want to recruit cats to join StoneClan."

"Well, you're not taking any of my cats. You wouldn't want them anyways. They're heartless." Was this Scourge? Because it felt like someone else.

The world started to change again. Were these visions? Why...

The world began to shake. The ground beneath Echopaw was shaking, making him fall. He was in a forest this time, but the trees were getting ripped apart by a terrible wind. The brush was being torn from it's roots, and all the animals were fleeing. He could barely make out a huge shape on top of a huge rock in the nearby clearing. It was staring at him, laughing maniacally.

"Don't you see?! The wind of change has come! Like the sun being engulfed in shadow, you will all be consumed in the tunnel of sharp wind!"

In horror, Echopaw saw a massive swirling wind behind the shape. It left a trail of disaster in it's wake, tearing apart the trees and even the twoleg dens behind it. It was exactly how the shape described it. A tunnel of wind reaching to the sky, sucking him into it with it's deadly force. Echopaw couldn't hold onto the grass for much longer as he watched the shape get swallowed into the wind first. Then, he couldn't hold on as the wind grabbed him off his feet and into the tunnel.

"Echopaw!"

He opened his eyes. The dream had ceased.

The sun had already rose, shining against the wall through the tiny opening at the top of the barn. He could hear the call of the rooster outside, signaling morning's arrival. His bed had been almost destroyed, with yellow grass splayed out across the den. His mind was scrambled from the visions. Dawnpaw was at the front of his small den. She was looking at him, worried.

"Echopaw, what's going on? You were rustling in your bed all night. Were you communicating with StarClan? Please say yes."

Echopaw rose to his feet groggily, still feeling weak. "I don't know. I had something of a vision, I think."

Dawnpaw got in a bit closer, "What did you see?"

Echopaw walked past her. "I saw too much to explain right now. I need to go outside."

Dawnpaw stared at him until he walked outside through the small hole in the wall. Echopaw needed to figure out what these visions meant.

When Echopaw was able to find a nice pile of green grass, he layed down and looked toward the far off twolegplace. The sun was shining beautifully today. Not a cloud in sight spoiled it's light. He could hear the birds chirping again in the leaves of the trees nearby and the rustling of the yellow grass near the farm. Then the thought struck him. Wind. What if the visions were going to occur? And if they did, how soon? Just the thought of the wind struck Echopaw with fear. That enormous tunnel of wind he saw in his dream looked big enough to kill all the cats in the whole forest... in the whole twolegplace... in the whole world. And who were the cats he met? One was in a strange shiny, hard room and had some kind of red light. The second was creepy in a pathway, with a menacing aura behind it. And finally was the shape that was sucked into the wind. Who were these cats?

"Tired of the barn?"

Mudpaw came out of the tall grass, holding a mouse in his jaws. He set the mouse down and sat. "What are you doing here?"

Echopaw looked away. "I just had a strange dream."

He rolled his eyes and smiled. "What kind of strange dream? Flying mice? Loners being nice? My sister beating you in a fight?"

Echopaw looked back at him and smiled as well. "You know I could beat her!"

"That's not what I saw last night. She saved you."

Echopaw settled down and gazed around. "No that's not the dream I was having."

"Hmm." Mudpaw grabbed the mouse again. "Well, let's talk about it later. I bet it'll make you feel better if you share your dreams with someone. I need to get back to hunting."

Echopaw finally found his chance. "Hey, can you teach me to hunt?"

"Well, tag along and don't make any noise and I'll show you how."

Echopaw followed Mudpaw into the tall grass. He could already smell the hiding mice. When we approached a tree, Mudpaw went over to it and set the mouse in his mouth on the ground and covered it in dirt. He looked back at Echopaw. "When catching mice, you need to catch a lot to support a clan. putting mice under dirt or grass is the best way to hide it from other animals while you catch more." He finished covering the mouse and led Echopaw into the grass again. He quietly whispered, "If you're hunting for mice, they can hear you from far off with those leaps you call walking. You need to walk so that you don't make any noise at all. Find the point in the grass that won't make it shift and learn to be light on your paws." He showed Echopaw the small part where the grass parted. Echopaw tiptoed and followed Mudpaw's steps from then on.

The day was busy with Mudpaw teaching him techniques to catch field mice, and soon enough, Echopaw had caught his first. He was able to enjoy life as it was with Dawnpaw's family. Echopaw felt nice to finally be with friends again, and had almost forgot about his previous life. There was only one thing that made his skin crawl every time he thought back. Scourge. Now that he has his warrior name, a clan, and has shown what power he can use to fight BloodClan, it was only a matter of time before he would have to travel into the twolegplace to gather cats for StoneClan. But questions arose in his thoughts over time. What were those visions he witnessed that night? How will he know who the warriors are that are coming to help them? And because Trianity blocked the entrance to moonstone, has StarClan left them?


	9. Chapter 7

The sun rose slowly over the mountains, ascending higher every second. The birds in the air fluttered over the barn, flying away into the forest to catch an early meal. The twolegs who stayed on the farm were tending to the plants in the fields while the cats were out hunting mice. Echopaw and Dawnpaw had stayed behind to keep an eye on things in the den. The day was like any other day.

Echopaw stopped having strange dreams many nights ago. Not only was he able to get more sleep than he usually did, he was starting to gain more sense into the visions he had before. He still had to figure out what they were, but he understands that it is real and not just a nightmare. Echopaw hasn't shared his dream yet with anyone, but time is starting to dwindle away. The warriors from the forest should get to the edge of the big twolegplace any day now. It had already been almost a half-moon.

"Echopaw, what are you thinking about?"Dawnpaw was laying in the bed across from Echopaw's. She was watching the sun's shine come through the opening at the top of the wall.

"I'm just thinking about the dream I had a while ago." He was ready to finally talk about it. Maybe Dawnpaw could make sense out of it.

Dawnpaw quickly turned her head. "Can you tell me about it now?" Her tone was a bit annoyed.

"Well, I wasn't ready to talk about it before because it was confusing to me. The timing wasn't great either." Drake stretched his hind legs and sat up. "It was the most strange dream I had in my entire life."

"First, you have to give it to me straight. Was it from StarClan?"

Echopaw shook his head. "I have no idea. It didn't feel like it was from them. I think it was a premonition, and I fear it can't be changed."

Dawnpaw got up from her nest and walked closer to him. "What do you mean?"

Echopaw blurted it all out. "Well first, some voice asked me if I was looking for someone, then I was in a shiny twoleg den with something in the darkness of the room that asked me who I was. Then it changed to some kind of pathway in between two tall twoleg dens and in another darkness, something asked me why I was here. I answered them both. Then finally..." Echopaw stopped. How could he tell Dawnpaw about some wind that was going to eat them alive? No, he had to keep that a secret. She could not live with the feeling about getting killed in the future. "... I saw another cat who made some kind of silly comment about wind. It didn't really have much meaning."

Dawnpaw looked stunned. Echopaw could see she didn't know what to say, but he also saw something of fear in her expression. She replied, "Echopaw, those two first things... Can you give me any description of them? Any at all?"

Echopaw closed his eyes and envisioned the dream again. "It was too dark to see their form. The only thing I could see in the twoleg den was a bright red light. The other was in darkness as well, but he had a dark aura above him and it looked like he had red fur on his chest."

"A bright red light..." Dawnpaw prodded the yellow grass for a couple moments. "I think I heard something like that from Crowpaw. We need to talk to him when he gets back Echopaw. Thanks for finally opening up to me." Dawnpaw crawled back into her nest, as did Echopaw.

Echopaw didn't know what to do. Should he keep the final vision a secret, or should he tell her? No, he needed a way to try to change that future, no matter the cost, or else the clans would be destroyed.

"Echopaw, let's talk to my father now." The moon had risen, finally able to clear the clouds blocking it's light. The stars finally shone bright unlike the night before. The faint chirps of crickets and the croaks of frogs could be heard from within the walls of the barn.

The family and Echopaw were all sitting in the corner of the barn now, stockpiling the mice Crowpaw, Mudpaw, and Gingerpaw caught. All the mice looked good and fat, just how Echopaw liked them.

"What is it Dawnpaw?" Crowpaw grabbed one of the mice.

"No, dad. Don't eat just yet. Echopaw told me about his dream from before. He's ready to share it, and I think you should know what he's talking about."

Echopaw began to explain his dream as best he could. The reactions on each of their faces weren't very enthralling, especially Crowpaw. He looked the most unhappy after Echopaw mentioned the second vision. Gingerpaw held a paw up to her mouth after the second cat's appearance too. Mudpaw seemed interested, but almost as cheerless as Crowpaw. It took a few minutes, but Echopaw had finished his story with his false ending. Nobody moved for many moments after the description.

Crowpaw sat up and walked to Echopaw. "You saw this in your dreams? And it wasn't from StarClan as a warning?"

Echopaw looked at the ground. "There was nothing that showed me StarClan was there. Do you know any meaning from it?"

"I would believe the first one is a symbol, but Echopaw, I believe the second one to be a cat who is leader of a band of loners all over the twolegplace, just like BloodClan. He protects other cats in exchange for prey offerings and unwavering loyalty. The only thing special about them is that most of the loners in his groups are used-to-be kittypets and the elites, who were train directly under him to be heartless in combat. But the leader is too evil. Why would you approach him in the future?" Crowpaw sighed and walked away from the group. "It brings up bad memories. His group killed Barley."

Barley? Echopaw didn't recognize the name, but it sounded important. Gingerpaw was affected by the comment, as well as Mudpaw. Gingerpaw grabbed two mice from the pile and followed Crowpaw outside. Mudpaw looked away from them.

Dawnpaw whispered into Echopaw's ear. "Barley was Ravenpaw's closest friend. I heard that Barley saved his life once, but Ravenpaw could never make it up to him."

Echopaw turned to her. "Why?"

"Because Barley was killed before he had the chance." Dawnpaw walked out of the den next. All of them had left the pile of prey, except for him... and Mudpaw.

Mudpaw continued to look away from the exit, staring at a pile of grass near the wall. His eyes were clouded, like he was in some kind of trance. Echopaw was deciding if he ought to try to talk to him, but he would probably scare him off like the others. He kept quiet for the time being.

"Echopaw, don't feel afraid." Mudpaw turned his clouded eyes onto him. Through the clouds, he saw something of a hope that Mudpaw had. "My family is soft. My father has nightmares about those cats, so it wouldn't be surprising that he would get emotional when he heard about your dream."

Echopaw sluggishly swiped a paw against the ground. "Why aren't you affected?"

"Me..." Mudpaw showed somewhat of a smile. "I guess I was born to be strong, mentally and physically, something that both my grandfather and father could not obtain." Mudpaw lifted a paw and focused on the roughness of it. "Me and my sister are blessed with StarClan's gifts. My sister was born to heal." Mudpaw raised his chin. "I was born to fight."

Echopaw saw something in Mudpaw he didn't see before. Echopaw was actually older than him, but Mudpaw showed such potential with his strong leg muscles and unmoved bravery in his appearance. Mudpaw was built to surpass all others in combat, even his dad. Echopaw could see that Mudpaw has the spirit not only to fight, but to lead, unlike him.

Dawnpaw peeked inside through the hole with a wide smile across her face. "Echopaw, I just witnessed a sign... from StarClan! Get out here now!"

Mudpaw situated himself next to the pile of mice and started to eat the first one on top of the pile. He motioned his tail, telling Echopaw to go outside without him. Echopaw listened and crawled through the hole, only to bump his head into Dawnpaw's.

"Oww, that hurt. Just hurry!" It took no time for her to recover and sprint across the clearing in the grass. Echopaw clumsily followed. He could see that Gingerpaw was sitting close to where Dawnpaw was heading, staring up into the stars that dotted the blanket of the dark night. The moon was shining bright at it's almost fullness, for last night it was full. Dawnpaw ceased her jumping and leaping when Echopaw had actually caught up to her. She raised a paw and pointed it upwards above the twoleg den.

"Do you see that star over there?" Dawnpaw turned to him, but then returned her attention to where she was pointing. "That star is shining brighter than any star I have ever seen. And not only that, it's pointing us in the direction."

"In the direction of what?" Echopaw narrowed his eyes, still trying to locate what she was pointing at.

"In the direction where the warriors will meet us." The comment cut through the night. The warriors are coming to train them, and if everything was still going according to plan, they were close.

Not only that, StarClan had finally communicated with them again. They had not given up hope on StoneClan.


	10. Chapter 8

"Echopaw, let's go! The warriors should be close! We need to get going to the big twolegplace already."

The sun had rose, shining brightly across the farm. Everyone had woken at the same time except for Echopaw, still weary from last night's conversation, but Dawnpaw was too excited to be tired. Echopaw could understand her excitement. He really wanted to meet the warriors as soon as he could too. But he was too sleepy to get up with the rest.

Mudpaw, Crowpaw, and Gingerpaw had already gone outside, Echopaw was still in his nest, and Dawnpaw was pushing him out of his nest, telling him to get ready to leave. Echopaw was very nervous though. He was going to meet living warrior cat. Would they be the same as the ones in StarClan, or would they be even tougher? Echopaw had thought up a thousand questions, and none of them had been answered. When will he ever discover the answers? Another question to add to the list.

"Echopaw, please. The warriors may already be at the meeting spot. We need to go!" Dawnpaw kept nudging him out of his nest.

Echopaw finally listened to her and got up. He felt invigorated, but at the same time timid. He stretched his legs and walked to the barn clearing. "So when are we leaving?"

"Now." Dawnpaw hurried to the entrance and slipped through. Echopaw took his time, either out of the laziness he was having or out of the annoyance of Dawnpaw. He couldn't decide which one was the reason, so he considered that both were causing his sluggish movement.

As he crawled out of the barn, he smelled the fresh scent of mice hit his nostrils first. He then heard Gingerpaw in the distance shouting. "Echopaw, everyone's waiting on you!"

"I'm coming." Echopaw ran towards the voice. He was able to see the group, the whole family, eating some mice they must have caught this morning before he woke up. Surprisingly, he just noticed that the sun was almost all the way into the sky. He'd slept for a long time.

Mudpaw grabbed a mouse with his claws and tossed it at Echopaw's face. "Here you go sleepy-one. Eat up." Mudpaw laughed as the mouse hit Echopaw directly on the nose and fell to the ground. His laughing ceased when Crowpaw looked at him.

Dawnpaw hid a giggle behind a paw. She looked along the thunderpath leading into the trees that separated the old clan territories from the Big Twolegplace. "We have a long walk and Echopaw has already used up some of the sunlight. Let's get going as soon as possible."

"First, I want to say something." Crowpaw sat up straight after finishing his mouse. His expression was very stern. "We must treat these cats with respect. They are very honorable and very proud of their skills with the clans. We must be grateful that they came all the way from their home to train us." He stood and walked towards the trees, starting the journey.

Echopaw saw Dawnpaw roll her eyes and tilt her head in the direction Crowpaw went. Echopaw laughed and chased after Crowpaw. Mudpaw came next, the Gingerpaw, and finally Dawnpaw at the back of the group. They were going to travel a long way

"Oh my goodness. I'm getting very tired sweety."

They were nearing a cross of thunderpaths. The monsters blazed across the reeking ground of the thunderpath. The field beyond was close to the entrance to the Big Twolegplace. The grass was filled with flowers and plenty of brush, perfect for the cats to get through. They were close, but they still had a long walk ahead of them. There was also the case that they couldn't be seen by any twolegs that made it really difficult to trek across open spaces. The sun was starting to fall out of the sky as well, so time was getting short. It would be even more difficult to find the warriors at night.

Gingerpaw was talking with Crowpaw. Crowpaw stayed silent.

It felt like Crowpaw had been acting strange ever since Echopaw told him about his dream. Crowpaw had the same solid eyes and strong stance he had last night. Something in Echopaw told him that he should talk to Crowpaw, until Mudpaw walked beside Echopaw. Mudpaw slightly bumped him and whispered, "Talk with my dad. He needs assurance that we'll be able to get our names back into the clans."

Echopaw kept walking, but looked at Mudpaw. "All your dad wants is to get back into the clans? That explains a lot. I've been noticing he's being very... I don't know the word. Independent? Self-reliant?"

"Yeah, he gets that way when he hears news involving the clans. But this time it isn't only about the clans." Mudpaw raised his chin and watched Crowpaw stop near the thunderpath. Echopaw stared at Mudpaw questionably. Mudpaw blinked and continued. "Your dream. Are you sure that it wasn't from StarClan?"

Echopaw nodded. "The fear and horror in it was not very StarClan-like. It felt like it was coming from something much darker."

"Pfft, that doesn't make anything better, does it?" Mudpaw ran ahead, catching up to Crowpaw. Echopaw chased him closely behind.

The monsters were a bit slower here, but it didn't give them any sense of relief. All the cats still knew if they made one wrong move here, it could cost them a life. Crowpaw waited until he saw an opening and signaled for all of them to run. Echopaw was able to keep pace with them unlike the first time with Dawnpaw. His speed had doubled after training with Mudpaw to catch mice. He was much more agile and swift, like Dawnpaw. They all reached the other side safely. Gingerpaw didn't look like the prettiest of flowers though. She looked extremely exhausted.

"Crowpaw, I need to rest. I haven't traveled far in a long time." Gingerpaw was pleading to Crowpaw now.

Crowpaw almost would have ignored her again if it wasn't for the push by Dawnpaw. Crowpaw didn't fall, but quietly announced, "We'll split up then. Dawnpaw, stay with Gingerpaw. Mudpaw and Echopaw, come with me." Crowpaw has changed. In a horrible way. What was causing this? Was it really Echopaw's story that did this to him?

Crowpaw started up the hill, but no one followed. Mudpaw and Echopaw stayed right next to Dawnpaw and Gingerpaw. When Crowpaw approached the halfway point up the hill, he looked back to see if they were following him. They weren't.

Gingerpaw quietly whispered into his ear. "He's not himself. Please do something to change him back to the cat I used to know."

Echopaw gazed toward Crowpaw again, watching him turn around and sit. He was far away from the group. It took a moment, but Echopaw drummed up the guts to talk to Crowpaw. He began to walk to Crowpaw.

Then, Echopaw froze. His eyes widened as he saw eyes appear in the brush behind Crowpaw. At least 4 pairs of eyes were staring at Crowpaw. Echopaw yelled, "Crowpaw! Behind you!"

Suddenly, four cats leaped out of the bush in different directions, all covering half of Crowpaw's escape directions. Crowpaw may have been quick to turn, but he wasn't prepared as the big gray tom tackled him. The tussled down the hill, swiping at each other furiously. The other three cats followed, getting prepared to jump at the rest of them. Mudpaw ran at the tall brown tom, Dawnpaw set her sights on the small pale she-cat, and Echopaw faced the large tabby tom. It was hard for them to hold their ground when the toms crash into them, almost making them fall onto the thunderpath. The major danger of this fight was going to be the thunderpath, for if they accidently back up onto it, a monster could kill them instantly.

"Gingerpaw, run. Hide somewhere in the brush across the field." Mudpaw yelled at the top of his lungs while he slashed at the toms paws. He fought valiantly against the big cat, not letting anything distract him. Within every second, Mudpaw was sliding under the tom, scratching his legs from underneath. The tom tried to attack, but Mudpaw was too small for him to get a grip onto.

Dawnpaw fought with ravagness, clawing the she-cat across the flank. However, no matter how bad the injury was, the she-cat continued to retaliate with heavy force. She kept on tripping Dawnpaw and making her stumble to her paws, leaving Dawnpaw wide open for hits to the face.

Echopaw was like a shadow, completely relying on the orange tom's movements for attack. He copied his opponents moves, imitating all his jukes and slashes. It seemed to work at first, but the tom started to observe what Echopaw was doing and started to throw him off with different patterns. Echopaw lost his balance and started to accidentally back up closer to the edge of the thunderpath. He didn't have much space left to dodge anymore. The tom ran at him one more time, trying to force Echopaw onto the thunderpath, until Echopaw swiftly avoided the charge and turned the tables. Now the tom was in between him and the thunderpath.

Crowpaw looked intense but horribly injured. The huge tom he faced was too strong, even for him to fight. After breaking from the tussle, the tom had put so many scratched on Crowpaw, blood was streaming all over him. Crowpaw repeated all of his movements and attacks, but the tom was too smart to be tricked by anything. Any move Crowpaw made, the tom found an opening and swiped his claws at him. Then, the tom started to jump all over the place, flying over Crowpaw and leaping onto him. Blood began to stain the grass around Crowpaw. He was going to die if someone didn't save him, but Dawnpaw was blocked by the she-cat, Mudpaw was tussling the tom again, and Echopaw couldn't turn away from his enemy or he might be killed as well. Gingerpaw had already left the battlefield, so Crowpaw was on his own.

"There! There's the cat!" A shout rose above the fight. Echopaw looked for the source of the voice and saw a pale gray she-cat across the field. She was running towards them with other cats behind her. Each one was huge and looked ready to fight at any moment, and that moment was hopefully right now. If they were on Echopaw's side.

They absolutely were. The big golden tabby tom with ruffled fur that was in front attacked the tom that was on top of Crowpaw. The other three aided Echopaw and the others. The gray she-cat helped fight with Dawnpaw against the pale she-cat. The cat had very decisive moves that flustered the she-cat. It took no time for him to pin the she-cat to the ground.

Another newcomer with dark ginger fur and a bushy tail helped Mudpaw. She was great at fighting as well. The tall tom didn't know what was coming when she took him down with her strong blows. The sheer force of the hit knocked the tom fox-lengths away from Mudpaw.

The final cat was a she-cat with smokey gray fur and a dappled pelt. She helped Echopaw fight off the last tom he was facing. Echopaw saw this as a chance and turned to aid the golden tom fight the gigantic tom off of Crowpaw. This she-cat looked tough enough to him to finish off the tabby tom he had been fighting.

Echopaw sighted Crowpaw on the ground near the flurry of the two toms, fighting for their lives. He rushed up to Crowpaw and saw that he was on the verge of death, just like Henry. He needed to keep Crowpaw alive, for Gingerpaw's sake. Echopaw quickly grabbed Crowpaw's neck fur and dragged him to the nearest brush to hide. He then began to grab leaves off the brush to cover the wounds. It was difficult to stop him from bleeding.

Then suddenly, the other she-cat from before that was fighting the tom appeared next to him. She quickly said, "Don't worry, the other cat has been handled. Just go get some berries from the brushes a bit farther from here. I'll take care of him."

Echopaw trusted she knew what she was doing and sprinted out of the brush towards the trees where the newcomers came from. In the shade of the trees, the brush underneath hid berries that looked sky blue. They looked like the berries from his old home, but they were a bit bigger. Echopaw picked as many as he could and carried them in a leaf wrap Dawnpaw taught him to make on the farm. Echopaw started to think about who these new cats were. They looked like the warrior cats. They must be the warriors that were sent here to train them. His hopes were starting to rise. Maybe they could save Crowpaw this time, unlike the last time where Echopaw could do nothing to save his friend.

Echopaw hurried back to the she-cat and Crowpaw. He saw her wrapping the leaves in strange ways to make them cover the wounds more easily. She was trying to cover the wounds as quickly as she could when she saw him come close. "Thanks. Now chew up half of those and give the rest to me."

Echopaw did as she told, grinding the berries to a pulp. The she-cat tried to feed the other berries to Crowpaw. He was starting to regain consciousness after eating them. Crowpaw was starting to look better until Echopaw noticed Crowpaw's hind legs. They weren't broken, but looked like they had been misshapen. Echopaw could see that they had been scratched the most. The she-cat noticed this soon after and frowned. "I'm sorry, but I think he won't be able to fight for a long time." She picked up the leaf with the pulped berries and set it down in front of her. She rubbed the pulp in her paws and then applied it to Crowpaw's major wounds.

Echopaw ran back to the battlefield and saw that two of the cats that attacked had already fled back towards the twolegplace. Only the big gray tom and tall brown tom remained fighting against the golden tom warrior, the smokey fur she-cat warrior, and Mudpaw. The other warrior and Dawnpaw were hiding behind the tall grass inspecting their wounds. They didn't have many, but they had enough to stop fighting. Echopaw charged straight at the gray tom who had almost killed Crowpaw. He was ready to fight.

Echopaw had the upper hand with the tom too overwhelmed to notice him. Echopaw was able to knock the tom away and leap onto him with his claws outstretched. Before the tom got up, Echopaw piled on top of him, scratching at his face and neck until he slipped away. The gray tom became clumsy with his attacks after he had been temporarily blinded with the blood dripping across his face. The golden warrior finished the tom with a strong slash and grip of his claws. Finally, after the tom was almost completely covered in blood, he retreated with the scarred brown tom close behind. The other warrior and Mudpaw had gave him a few scratches that he won't forget. The battle had finally ended, and it seemed to Echopaw that he had gained much experience.

All of them were breathing heavily. They all gathered together near the brush where Crowpaw was being treated. Dawnpaw and Mudpaw stood next to their father, almost in tears. Their father was still alive, but just barely. The she-cat who was treating him said that he wouldn't die, but he wouldn't be able to run, ever. Crowpaw overheard this while he was still conscious, but he fell back to sleep after he did. He was no longer able to become a warrior.

The golden tom came up to Echopaw and nodded. "You did well for your first fight."

"Actually, it wasn't my first." Echopaw tried to smile.

The tom smiled back. "Well, it seemed like your first battle you got to fight heroically in." He sat down. "I am Lionblaze, warrior of ThunderClan."

Echopaw sat and raised his chin to look him in the eyes. "I'm Echopaw, apprentice of StoneClan."

Lionblaze tilted his head to the other she-cat warrior Echopaw helped. "That's my mate, Cinderheart, and the other gray cat next to her is Dovewing."

"And I'm Squirrelflight." The big dark ginger warrior approached Echopaw. She looked older up close. "Nice to meet the future leader of StoneClan in such a brave way."

"I'm not that brave." Echopaw shifted his paws.

"And a humble one at that." She walked past them and introduced herself to Mudpaw and Dawnpaw.

Lionblaze looked at where Crowpaw was sleeping. "I'm sorry Cinderheart couldn't completely fix Crowpaw's injuries. She's not a medicine cat, but she was taught a lot of the techniques of being one." He gazed around at where they were. The sun was setting and the battlefield had been covered in the blood of both the enemies and thiers. The monsters on the thunderpath had all but disappeared. Lionblaze looked at Echopaw again. "So, is this all of you?"

Oh no, Echopaw thought. Gingerpaw! Where was she? "No, there is still one more cat somewhere! We told her to flee away from the battle because she was too weak to fight. Where is she?"

"That's not good." Dovewing interrupted. "I saw a ginger furred cat fleeing from the battlefield when we came."

Echopaw stood up. "Do you know where she went?"

Dawnpaw and Mudpaw turned and faced Dovewing, thinking the same question. Dovewing sighed. "That's the problem. I know exactly where she went. Another group of loners took her."

Dawnpaw and Mudpaw were shocked. They both stared at each other. Echopaw stood motionless. Gingerpaw had been stolen right under their paws. If she had only stayed with them, would she have not gotten killed in the fight? Gingerpaw, stay alive.


	11. Chapter 9

"Why didn't you go after her?"

The moon was high in the black sky with stars twinkling beyond. The field was peaceful. Everyone was crowding around a clump of brush, a temporary shelter and camp for the night. The monsters became scarce, quiet "hoos" of the owl could be heard, and all other noises seemed to be in harmony with the others.

However, the night wasn't promising. Dawnpaw and Squirrelflight were able to get to sleep, but the rest of them were looking at each other in a small circle. Mudpaw had an aggressive tone with Dovewing. Lionblaze and Cinderheart leaned against each other and Echopaw sat unnaturally still. He still felt guilty of letting Gingerpaw get captured, and so did Mudpaw. Mudpaw was trying to pin the blame on the warriors. Oh, if Crowpaw was awake, it would be too hectic to handle.

"Mudpaw, we wouldn't have gotten to her in time. Even if we did, we would have left you all to die." Dovewing continued to offer sense to Mudpaw.

Mudpaw wasn't accepting any. "You could have split up. Half of you could have rushed to her side."

"There were too many loners with Gingerpaw for us to fight separately." Dovewing raised her paws, "That's it, I'm done trying to convince you. I'm going to tell you a secret. Do you know how we found you, or how I saw Gingerpaw get captured?"

Mudpaw opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His eyes were shaky and Echopaw could tell he didn't know.

Lionblaze spoke up. "We have special... powers. Me and Dovewing. That's why we were chosen to aid you."

Dovewing closed her eyes and sighed. "I can see, hear, and smell much farther distances than any of you. Right now, I am tracking Gingerpaw with the loners. She is safe, for now."

Mudpaw stood up. "Then let's go get her!"

"No." Lionblaze broke in again. "Even I believe that is a rash decision. We do not know how tough these loners are, or if they are with BloodClan at all. We don't need to start a war with BloodClan we can't win."

Echopaw, under his breath, shyly said, "Scourge..."

Cinderheart nodded her head. "Lionblaze's power is to fight unbelievably well, but even he knows when he can't handle a duel with strange new cats."

Echopaw looked up to him. "What do you mean by 'fight unbelievably well?'"

Lionblaze stretched his neck. "See any injuries on me from the fight with the burly tom?"

Echopaw just noticed him. He was scratch-free. The tom had horribly massacred Crowpaw, but Lionblaze wasn't scathed by him. Amazing.

Mudpaw sat back down. "We need to rescue her as soon as possible."

"Right now, that is a mission for us to accomplish in the far future." Dovewing grimly glimpsed at Mudpaw.

"What do you mean? What if she is killed? I'm not letting my mother die!"

"No, they won't do that." Dovewing squinted her eyes closed and flicked her ears. She was focusing. "I can hear one of them. The loners. He's saying, 'This cat must be kept secluded from any other cats. Keep her in the 'cage' until we need her to tell us more about the warriors that crossed the twolegplace earlier.' I don't know what the 'cage' is, but it seems to me that her knowledge is worth more value than her life right now. She'll be safe if she keeps calm around them."

Mudpaw seemed to relax. He felt a little closure with Dovewing's information. Cinderheart leaned against Lionblaze again. Echopaw saw that the conversation had come to a close, so he decided that he could start asking his own questions. "Lionblaze, I was told we were to gather cats into StoneClan to fight BloodClan AND this other cat. I think StarClan called him Sol. Who is he?"

"Sol..." Lionblaze shook his head and unsheathed his claws. "I regret letting him escape my grasp last time in the tunnels." Lionblaze seemed to drift off for a few moments. "Sol is an evil cat, almost as evil as BloodClan, but he leads cats in a different way. He believed that he was another StarClan, leading cats to a future he saw in the clans that involved destroying them in the process."

Echopaw widened his eyes. "Was he that evil?"

"Oh yes." Lionblaze looked directly at Echopaw. "He stole a prediction from a good friend of ours and claimed it as his own. He told the clans that the sun would be covered by the moon forever unless they listened to him."

Echopaw became still. A freezing wind blanketed his body. He shivered uncontrollably. The voice from his vision came back to him. "Are you looking for someone?"

He was suddenly in the third vision again. The tunnel of wind appeared out of nowhere again. It ravaged the dens far beyond as it came closer to Echopaw and the figure on the big rock. The figure's form was more clear. It was a huge tortoise-shelled cat with yellow eyes. His voice was cackled. "Don't you see?! The wind of change has come! Like the sun being engulfed in shadow, you will all be consumed in the tunnel of sharp wind! Aah haa haaaaa!"

"Echopaw, are you okay?" Cinderheart looked at him questionably.

Echopaw noticed that he had clenched the ground with his claws and his fur was ruffled. The wind that he felt course through his body had all but disappeared. He was breathing a bit deeply. Echopaw shaped up and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. A little chill of wind got through the brush. I don't like being cold."

Mudpaw pointed his paw toward a grass clump. "There's a nice place over there that you can sleep in. I don't think much wind can get through the brush there. It's has been a long day, too."

"Yeah, I need some rest." Echopaw walked away from the group. Mudpaw started to bring up the previous discussion again about his mother. It seemed that Mudpaw would hold that guilt for a while. Echopaw, on the other hand, was unable to compensate for any of his dreams until now. The third cat. Was it Sol?

And what of the first two? Who were they? Echopaw got barely any sleep. He was too busy thinking about what he should do next. The vision might have cleared up partly, but he felt like he had received the information he wanted least. He drifted to sleep after thinking too hard.

In the morning, Echopaw had to be woken up early. Echopaw still didn't want to get up. He was too tired. It took a lot of pushes from Dawnpaw, but Echopaw had finally woken up. The warriors had already cleared the camp of the brush wall and were probably out hunting. Mudpaw was aside his father, still looking for ways to help him. Echopaw felt clumsy on his feet as he walked into the fields. The sun felt good on his pelt after the cold night last night. The monsters had started their daily routine on the thunderpaths. The silent call of the twolegplace continued to lure Echopaw. His journey to build StoneClan was getting closer to starting with the warriors preparing to train him.

"Echopaw, we need to find the warriors. Maybe we can see them in action with hunting. You in?" Dawnpaw's inviting smile was undeniable.

"I guess. Isn't there something against that though?"

"What are you talking about? It's not against the code, silly. You need to wake up."

Dawnpaw led him to the trees that separated the field from the nearby forest. In the shade of the trees, Echopaw felt rejuvenated by the fresh scent of prey, like squirrels and mice. Echopaw had never tasted squirrel before. He wondered if he would be taught to catch squirrels. Dawnpaw had reached a big bramble bush when she stopped. She motioned her tail for Echopaw to stop too. Dawnpaw made a quiet "shh" and looked around the bramble bush. Echopaw peeked a look around the other side.

Far away in the distance, in the piercing light through the tree's opening, was a plump squirrel begging to be caught. Echopaw almost would have jumped at it if Dawnpaw wasn't watching. He couldn't smell anything other than the squirrel, so where were the warriors? Time passed quickly, and the squirrel was about to dash away. Echopaw saw it lift it's head and look away from them.

Instantly, Squirrelflight popped out of the brush and had her jaws on the prey's neck. It was a clean kill! Echopaw stood in awe. It was almost too fast for him to see. When he hunted for mice, Mudpaw had taught him to chase them and recognize their pattern of movement. Echopaw would catch them with precise leaps and jumps, but these cats were able to quickly pounce on the prey and kill it without any excess running. Echopaw could already see that he had some skills to improve on.

Dawnpaw watched intensively. She smiled, eyes glittering when Squirrelflight made her move. She also hopped a couple times in joy. The way they hunted was nothing compared to the warrior way.

Dawnpaw and Echopaw retreated behind the bramble. Dawnpaw was the first to react. "Did you see that? It's way better than what we were taught. This is so exciting. I think that we will be trained to do that."

"Do you really think so? I mean... will we be able to catch squirrels too?" Echopaw was as excited as a kit with a ball of moss.

"Let's see if the other warriors are back at the camp. They already might have prey for us to eat." Dawnpaw hurriedly ran across the grass. Echopaw had no choice but to follow. Prey. His belly rumbled at the thought of it. He was hungry for a piece of that squirrel.

They exited the shadow of the leaves and approached the camp. Crowpaw was still asleep with Mudpaw close by, but Lionblaze and Cinderheart had come back with some food. Echopaw could see a squirrel underneath some of the mice. He wondered if he would be able to have it.

"Hey, where were you two?" Cinderheart smirked in a way that reminded Echopaw of Firestar's smirk. Oh great, he thought. This was going to be a never-ending topic.

"Nowhere. Can we eat?" Dawnpaw's excitement still lingered. Even Echopaw could see that Cinderheart could tell "nowhere" wasn't actually nowhere.

"Sure, let's get some prey for Crowpaw first. A rule that all clans follow. Feed elders, kits, and queens before any warriors or apprentices. It's very important to understand that." Cinderheart picked up a mouse and set it next to Crowpaw. Hopefully he would wake up soon. Then, Mudpaw came to the pile and picked out a mouse. Lionblaze picked out a mouse. Cinderheart grabbed a mouse. Yes, Echopaw thought. The squirrel is mine.

Dawnpaw walked to the pile and snatched the squirrel. No!

Echopaw's belly felt wretched. He really wanted that squirrel. He had no choice but to grab the other mouse that was left. He had been eating mouse for so long that the taste wasn't good to him anymore. He wanted something new.

"Here." Dawnpaw sat next to him. She pushed her half eaten squirrel over to Echopaw. "You can have the rest of this if you give me the rest of your mouse. I like mouse better anyways."

Without thinking, Echopaw immediately grabbed the squirrel and dug into it. It tasted soooo good. He felt excited to be finally eating something other than mouse. After a few bites, his manners returned. "Thanks Dawnpaw."

She grabbed the mouse. "No problem."

The morning seemed great to him. But the mood changed as instantly as Squirrelflight's pounce. Dovewing rushed through the camp. "Everyone, we have company."

Mudpaw protected his father. Lionblaze stood with Dovewing staring toward the top of the hill. Echopaw and Dawnpaw ended their meals and readied themselves for another fight. Echopaw concentrated his focus to the top if the hill that was bordered with small brush. Would they ever be able to live a day without so much action?

It took a bit of patience, but a cat came out of the dark brush. Echopaw could see it's traits easily in the light. It was a tom with a gray mottled brown pelt, had small nicks on both his ears, three gray paws, a broad face, and a noticeable scar across the side of his neck.

Another cat appeared beside him. It was a lithe brown tiger striped she-cat with sharp chest fur, oddly shaped ears, and narrowed eyes. She was no taller than Dawnpaw, but she looked twice as old as her.

The two cats saw the group. Strangely, they didn't start to rush towards Echopaw and the others, nor did they run away. They just slowly made their way down the hill.

"These are the warriors? Are you sure?" The big tom spoke quietly to his partner.

"Yes sir. These are the cats. Except it seems that they have a few more numbers than we expected." The small she-cat talked straight-forwardly. She sounded like one of those cats who obeyed well.

"Hmm. Well, let's just hope that they're friendly, eh." The tom came closer and approached Lionblaze. About two fox-lengths away, the tom spoke up. "You are the warriors of the forest, are you not?"

Dovewing crouched and readied for any sign of hostility in the tom. "We'll tell you when you tell us who you are."

"Ah, how rude of me. I didn't know I insulted you with my unscheduled arrival and abrupt tone. My partner and I are not the most organized. We have been tracking you as you traveled around the twolegplace. My name is Silas. Accompanying me here is my good friend Okani. We belong to the Upwalker group of cats in the twolegplace. I'm very pleased to meet your acquaintance." Dyrus sat down and bowed his head.

Woah. Echopaw didn't know what to think of him. He seemed so polite that it was hard to mistake him for an enemy. Dovewing was even confused from the surprising introduction. Lionblaze calmed down and walked closer to Silas. "Silas, you seem to be here for a request. What is it?"

Silas cracked a small smile. "Well, I do require assistance, but how am I to be certain you are the supposed warriors Okani stalked around the twolegplace?"

Dovewing marched timidly toward Okani. "You followed us? But why didn't I notice you?"

Lionblaze answered, "Yes, we are the warriors, but why would a kittypet want to ally with us?"

Silas cleared his throat and bowed again. "Our group has suffered under the other dangerous cats in the twolegplace. You were lucky to avoid most of the assassins because you detoured around the twolegplace. My master seeks an audience with the one in charge here so that we may come to an agreement that you might help us defend ourselves from the... other groups."

"Assassins? What are those?" Dawnpaw sauntered behind Lionblaze.

Okani spoke. "Assassins are the cats assigned by their respective leaders to kill cats swiftly and stealthily without any evidence that they killed any cats. They only hunt those who peak the leaders interest."

Dovewing studied Okani. "I still don't understand. Why didn't I see you..."

Lionblaze lifted his chin. "Do these other groups include BloodClan?"

"Indeed." Silas looked back around at the brush. "Then there's two others. All are putrid enough to pick fights with us diligent and sagacious cats. My leader believes in peace between both cats and Upwalkers, but those miscreants make sure that dream never comes true. All I require is for you to concur with the audience request and meet my leader so that we may aid each other in combat and protection against the outcast cats."

Echopaw guessed that the Upwalkers must be the twolegs since they were kittypets. He couldn't believe that there was already cats wanting to join StoneClan, sort of. If they could establish a connection with another group of cats that want to become strong, it might become a good base for StoneClan's apprenticeship . Echopaw strolled in front of all the others a tail-length in front of Silas. "Silas, I am soon to be leader of this clan we call StoneClan. I would be pleased to meet another leader who sees BloodClan as their maniacal selves. I am Echopaw."

"Not surprising to see that such a young face would bear such a responsibility of his clan's lives. Be warned that traveling to meet my master will not be an easy trek. Many cats will find ways to take you down. But, if you can be prepared to leave in 14 nights from now, my small band of cats will guide you through the forest of Upwalker dens the safest way possible." Silas came in closer. His voice seemed to darken. "I also recommend you visit the Tenkai Twins. They have been expecting a cat from a strange land with smoky gray fur."

The last comment he made was only loud enough for Echopaw to hear. Dovewing was too bothered by Okani's unbelievable stealthiness to focus in on it. The Tenkai Twins... Echopaw pondered the name. Echopaw turned to the rest of the group. It seemed that they agreed with my decision. Turning back to Silas and Okani, Echopaw nodded abruptly. "We'll be sure to find a way to leave as soon as we can."

"I look forward to it. We will come back in 14 nights and see what you all decide on. For now, we must be going. I have other things to attend to." Silas bowed once again and trotted back up the hill with Okani. Silas disappeared back into the brush the place he appeared from.

Echopaw had now made his first friend in the twolegplace, and he hadn't even started to train with the warriors. This was turning out to look a bit easier for him.

Dovewing scratched her head. "I can't... Why couldn't I sense she was following us!?"


	12. Chapter 10

"Who are you?"

In the darkness of the cloudy sky, cats were gathered in an alleyway that had a dead end on one side and the entrance from the thunderpath on the other. A gigantic square shiny prison with hard bars around the sides held a scared ginger she-cat. All the cats that were around the prison watched her try to break out of it. They laughed every time she tried to headbutt her way out, but it was fruitless. There was no way for her to escape without an item that opened the entrance. The she-cat started to yell, "I just want to find my mate. Please..." She broke into tears. "Please just let me go."

"You have a mate?" A shadow appeared out of the mass of cats and approached the ginger she-cat. Only the gleam of his peculiar smile from the light of the waning moon could be seen. Its voice was hauntingly deep. "I'm sorry for taking you away from him, but I sense in your eyes that your love wasn't very... credible."

"My love for him is true! Please let me see him again!" The she-cat struggled to get out of the prison again, but all it did was make more cats laugh.

"Love... love is not a very used word here in that way." Its smile kept. "I promise that you'll get to... see... him again. But you still haven't answered my question." Suddenly, its claws unsheathed and shimmered in the faint light. "Who are you?"

"My name..." The she-cat steadied her voice. Her eyes still wept, but she proudly announced, "I am an apprentice of StoneClan."

"Hey Echopaw, check out what I just learned." Dawnpaw thrusted herself forward and turned. In the turn, she swiped her tail underneath Echopaw's paws and knocked him off-balance. Finishing her spin, she released an onslaught of hits with her sheathed claws across his chest. Echopaw felt the attack would be very effective if their claws were extended, but they were just practicing.

The sun rose high into the sky that morning. It had been 7 days ever since Silas' visit. StoneClan had relocated their camp into the woods a half-days walk from where they made camp before. The spot was perfect. There was trees that were only separated a fox-length from each other that formed the perimeter. Dovewing had also found a whole load of thistles close by and stringed them across the trees. Only a small brush made the entrance between two white trees while the rest across the others were thistles. A small ravine flowed through a stream of pebbles. It was a good spot to soak moss quickly. A large stone made a great symbol in the middle of the camp. It was where we would gather when the clan will expand. Where Echopaw would stand atop when he's leader. Other small bushes scattered around the perimeter had entrances in which each warrior and apprentice slept separately, but soon they would extend the thistles to include a large group of rocks across the ravine that looked like a great place to form an apprentice's den. The camp was perfect.

The older warriors had taught the apprentices techniques in combat, although Echopaw and Dawnpaw pleaded them to teach them how to catch squirrel. Lionblaze was the most amused by their eccentric attitudes. Cinderheart always responded with the excuse, "What if we were attacked again? Cats aren't the same as squirrels." Mudpaw didn't seem affected in any way though. He just listened to whatever he was taught and put it into action. Mudpaw was Dovewing's apprentice, Echopaw was Lionblaze's apprentice, Dawnpaw was Squirrelflight's apprentice, and Crowpaw was cared for by Cinderheart.

Crowpaw had not woken up happily. He felt awful. Not only was he remorseful when he heard of Gingerpaw's disappearance, but he felt incredible agony of his restriction to camp. Cinderheart as his caretaker didn't help his broken pride. Crowpaw stayed silent throughout the days. He had only spoken when he first woke up 6 nights ago. Now, it seemed as though he was an empty shell of a cat.

Mudpaw tried to talk to him once, but Crowpaw had become too distant by then. Mudpaw was affected by his rash decisions in the fight with the loners as well. He became an unemotional apprentice of StoneClan, doing everything that he was ordered, but never feeling emotion with any of his choices. He had also been gone a few nights from his nest going somewhere that he would never reveal to anyone. Dovewing respected his privacy, but suspected something.

On the other paw, Echopaw and Dawnpaw have had a lot of interaction between each other. They worked as partners in training, showing each other new skills taught by their mentors everyday. Echopaw saw the look in Cinderheart's eyes like before constantly when he walked with Dawnpaw into camp. Echopaw tended to slide further away from Dawnpaw when he saw those eyes. Though, as the days passed, he moved away smaller distances. Soon enough, he would only be a quarter of a tail-length from her.

Echopaw walked into camp with Dawnpaw after training that morning to find the usual scene. Lionblaze coming back from hunting, Cinderheart looking at Crowpaw's hind legs again, Dovewing eating a small squirrel and focusing on who know's what with those magical eyes and ears of his, and Squirrelflight cleaning herself near the ravine. Oddly, Mudpaw wasn't at his usual spot where he watched his father from his own den. Actually, Mudpaw hadn't been seen this morning either.

"Hey, Lionblaze. Have you seen Mudpaw?" Echopaw trodded next to Lionblaze. Dawnpaw went to the pile of prey to grab the squirrel.

"No, I thought he was with Dovewing." Lionblaze glanced at Dovewing.

Dovewing was in one of those trances that signifies she is focusing on something far away. Usually it's with Gingerpaw, but today his head was pointed in a different direction. Echopaw walked closer to him, but Dovewing's focus didn't waver. Echopaw had never learned to awake Dovewing out of his trances, so he tried to do it as politely as he could.

"Dovewing, have you seen Mudpaw?"

Dovewing closed her bright eyes and shook her head. When she opened her eyes again, they were normal. "Mudpaw... Yeah, he went out late last night to remark our territory. He said that he needed to do something after that."

"Have you noticed that he hasn't come back yet?" Echopaw's voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. Dawnpaw stopped eating, Lionblaze looked toward the entrance, Squirrelflight lifted her head, Cinderheart shifted her gaze toward him, and Crowpaw's eyes darkened.

Dovewing quickly looked around at her paws and stood up. After scanning the camp,s he closed his eyes. "Mudpaw... where are you Mudpaw?" Echopaw could see that Dovewing's eyes were shifting vigorously behind her eyelids. Her ears perked up and twitched every second. "Mudpaw..." She opened her eyes wide. "Mudpaw is in the fields across from where our old camp was."

What would he be doing so far away, and where we had fought the loners for that? Wait... Echopaw thought.

"We need to go get him. I think he's in trouble." Echopaw rushed up to Lionblaze.

Dovewing grimly smiled. "That cat. I swear that he's too proud to be broken this much over such a small decision he made." He looked at them. "I sensed a cat making its way to Mudpaw as well. It looked like a loner from the fight. It might sound a bit crazy, but I think Mudpaw challenged him to a fight to the death. What do you think Lionblaze?"

"Sounds like a good assumption. We need to get him back to camp before he gets himself hurt." Lionblaze jumped onto the big stone. "Crowpaw stays here with Squirrelflight and Cinderheart to protect the camp. The rest and I will go with Dovewing to retrieve Mudpaw. Let's go quickly."

Dawnpaw was the first to dash out of camp at the sound of Lionblaze's voice. Echopaw followed with Dovewing and Lionblaze at his heels. Oh StarClan, he thought, let us get to Mudpaw in time before he does something he'll regret. They trekked through the dense forest swiftly. The leaves of the trees were starting to fall in the coming Leaf-fall season. The dried leaves crunched under their paws, showing that they didn't care about stealth when they traveled. The rushing river close by marked the edge of their territory, and was great for a landmark to follow around the twolegplace. It ran all the way around the whole of the area, according to Dovewing. The group followed the current, speeding toward the old camp.

"I didn't think you would come."

"What, and miss out on the opportunity to finish what I started? I would've given the world to get this chance."

"You sound so certain you're going to win."

"I am. When we attacked you before, you and your first group couldn't even match our skills. Too bad we had to cut short the battle with those mouse-brained cats interrupting."

"You tortured my father... You killed his soul!"

"Oh, was that what drove you to want a rematch with me? You are pathetic."

"You distracted us while my mother was taken."

"I had no idea until now that she was your mother. I would have gotten more pleasure in watching her squirm in the cage."

"Rrraaagh! I'll kill you!"

"Bring it then."

"We're almost there." Dawnpaw was starting to recognize the surroundings. It was the direction the warriors entered the field. Echopaw could smell the familiar scent of squirrel like the first time before. They were close all right. Let's hope Mudpaw hasn't got too hurt.

Lionblaze broke away and got ahead of Dawnpaw. He started to slow down to try to calm Dawnpaw. Echopaw could understand that whatever they saw, they would have to accept it and find a way to compensate for what happened. Hope right now was all they could rely on, and the sun already disappeared behind the mountains. If they were to find Mudpaw, the battle would be ending as soon as they got there.

They approached the border of the trees and the field. The brush was the only thing that separated them from the outcome of the battle. Lionblaze was first to walk through it to the other side. Dawnpaw was too afraid to see beyond the small leaves, so she let Dovewing pass. Echopaw rubbed his cheek against her shoulder and nudged her forward.

Echopaw went through the brush and froze. Lionblaze and Dovewing had been stilled too. Dawnpaw broke into tears.

Mudpaw... had beaten and murdered the loner. His eyes were shaking and was staggering on his feet. His pelt was covered in dark blood, his own and the loner's. Echopaw saw the scars all over Mudpaw's body. He looked like a dead cat coming back from the dead.

"Mud-... Mudpaw? What did you do?" Dawnpaw attempted to walk towards him, but Lionblaze blocked her off.

"That's not Mudpaw anymore." Lionblaze peered at Mudpaw.

"He certainly isn't." A cat appeared a fox-length away from Mudpaw. It was too dark to see his face, but Echopaw saw he had a silver pelt. "He's mine now. Aren't you... Blade?"

Mudpaw, or Blade, turned to the group. Echopaw saw him gripping something in between his teeth. It was some kind of sharp shiny twoleg item. Echopaw had seen his old twolegs use it to cut various things, so if it's purpose was to slice, then Blade had killed the loner with that twoleg tool.

Blade dropped the tool and breathed heavily. "Dawnpaw... I'm sorry. The warriors... If they won't help me... find my mother in time... Then I'll do it myself."

"Come Blade. I have more knives back at my place." The silver cat's smile was close to Scourge's, but it was different. It had the same killer sense in it, but it was less focused, like it didn't want to kill for revenge or in anger. It wanted to kill for the fun of it.

"Mudpaw! Don't go! Please! We need you! This is not the Mudpaw I used to know. Why?!" Dawnpaw forced her way underneath Lionblaze and dashed at Blade. "Mudpaw, don't go!"

"Dawnpaw stop!" Echopaw ran after her.

The silver cat suddenly jumped in front of Dawnpaw as its shadow grew larger and reached higher. Its eyes turned a dark red and his mouth opened maliciously. Echopaw saw the sharp tools like Blade hooked to it's paws like claws. It raised its paws and was about to strike down on Dawnpaw.

CHINK!

Blade successfully had gripped the knife in his jaw again and stopped the attack. He pushed the shadow of the cat back. "The only way I'll join you... is if you keep your paws off my sister and her friends."

The shadow licked his lips. "She's your sister, eh? Well, that seems like a deal." The cat turned and began to walk away. "Let's go already."

Blade looked back at the ground. Dawnpaw went around to see his face and rubbed her face against his. "Mudpaw, please. What would Gingerpaw think of you like this?"

Blade spat out the knife and looked into Dawnpaw's deep sorrowful eyes. "I would rather her alive and think down upon me than dead." Blade licked Dawnpaw's cheek and limped past her. The silver cat led the way up the hill into the lit up twolegplace. Blade looked back at Echopaw and Dawnpaw when he reached the top. It was only a moment before he disappeared into the brush.

"What will we do now? He's gone." Dawnpaw's tears fell off of her face.

Dovewing looked at the top of the hill, probably tracking where Blade was going. Lionblaze came next to them and said, "We need to get back to camp. Mudpaw has chosen his own path. We have chosen ours."

They all gathered at the border of the forest. Dawnpaw kept looking back at where Blade disappeared, hoping that he would come back. Echopaw knew that he wouldn't. He proceeded to push Dawnpaw back into the brush.

On the way home, Dovewing caught some prey to eat when we got back to camp. The moon was covered by a sliver of a cloud and the stars were scattered far away from it. The lowly chirps of the nocturnal birds cut through the silence of the night. The river had ceased its loud rushing and calmed with the cold air. Lionblaze stayed next to Dawnpaw and tried to warm her up. Echopaw didn't want to though, because tonite has made him chilled. The wind that he felt before wasn't there. It was just the chilly, cold night that made him feel that way. But the cold felt abnormal, like someone caused it. Echopaw stopped walking for a second and looked back the way they came.

Blade had chosen to do things in his own, cold way and had become something that every cat in the twolegplace feared.

An assassin.


	13. Chapter 11

The moon was a crescent in the starry sky. The sounds of the lonely forest repeated like every night before. An owl cried out into the night, leaves fell to the ground one by one turning a shade of red and yellow, the thunderpath was abandoned, and clouds covered the sky waiting to drop the water they had been holding for many days. The cold nights just got colder, making the clan look forward to the morning for warmth.

Echopaw had tried to cheer up Dawnpaw, and it almost had worked. He only needed a little more time to work with her, but the deadline is close. Only 1 day away until Silas and his group of twoleg cats would escort them to the leader of kittypets. Echopaw still felt timid at the thought of representing StoneClan. He wasn't fully trained yet to even be a warrior. Lionblaze said that the soonest he could become a warrior was 1 full moon of hardcore training. He had a lot to do ahead of him.

Dawnpaw had trained well in her condition. Squirrelflight was able to try to sympathize with her the best she could. Echopaw trusted that they would not lose another cat to the twolegplace. Dawnpaw was a bit behind Echopaw in training, but she was catching up.

Crowpaw still hadn't said a word. His heart was wrecked three times now. Echopaw felt like he should do something to help him, but he couldn't think of anything. What would Crowpaw want right now other than his legs, his son, or his mate? Echopaw thought it would be better to leave the subject alone for now.

The warriors seemed to profit with Mudpaw's absence. Dovewing was able to get more tracking done with both Gingerpaw and Mud-... Blade, Lionblaze looked more focused to train Echopaw, and Cinderheart was able to spend more time with Crowpaw without Mudpaw staring over her shoulder. Maybe we're better off without him, Echopaw thought. No. Dawnpaw felt like her brother was dead. He pretty much was.

The camp was almost ready to be expanded to add the apprentices' den. Dovewing said that Cinderheart would handle it while we were away in the twolegplace with Silas. She also said that she had found some helpless cats that looked perfect to be recruited into clanship. Echopaw became excited when she mentioned the cats. He looked forward to finding them on their first trip into the twolegplace.

"Hey Echopaw! Crowpaw wants you." Cinderheart came into Echopaw's den abruptly. The moon was still high in the sky.

Echopaw raised his head stiffly. "This late at night? Why?"

"Echopaw, he said that he wants to talk to you."

"Talk?!" Echopaw got to his paws and shook himself. The night was cold.

Cinderheart led Echopaw across the clearing to the soon-to-be medicine cat's den. Echopaw had totally forgot that Dawnpaw was going to be somewhat of a medicine cat. He still wondered though, because Dawnpaw had already learned all about herbs and was ready to become a medicine cat, but she seemed to like being a warrior more. But if not Dawnpaw, then who? A medicine cat has to have a connection with StarClan in someway. Echopaw would have to keep an eye out for a type of spiritual cat to see if it knows of StarClan, because he didn't want to spoil Dawnpaw's dreams.

When Echopaw stepped inside, he saw Crowpaw hunched in the corner of the wall of brush. His pelt was ruffled from not being outside for almost a half moon. His head lifted and turned toward Echopaw. "Echopaw... I need to talk with you privately."

Cinderheart walked out of the hollowed brush. Echopaw got closer to Crowpaw and sat down. "Crowpaw, why haven't you tried to talk with us until now?"

"I didn't see the whole situation as it was. Now I do." Crowpaw's eyes twinkled. "You are to lead this clan to greatness. I wanted to be the great warrior of StoneClan, but this had nothing to do with me in the first place."

"No don't talk like that. You have a destiny of your own here."

Crowpaw remarked, "What's for me here? I'm too crippled to even get my own food. I need to rely on others for survival."

Echopaw felt a pang of deja vu. Rely on others... "I know that you have a place in this clan because Lionblaze has been telling me what you're perfect for."

Crowpaw shifted his paws.

"An elder to give the kits and apprentices of StoneClan someone to talk to and take care of. Lionblaze told me all about how the elders of the clans are known to be the knowledgeable."

Crowpaw smiled. Something Echopaw hadn't seen in days. "I'd like to have a warrior title though as my final wish though."

Echopaw didn't know what to say. Maybe he can get a warrior name even though he hadn't gotten any training. "I'll talk with the warriors about it. Get some rest."

Crowpaw nodded and returned to his slumber. Echopaw felt tired as well and slowly made his way back to his own den. Cinderheart went to Crowpaw's side and laid next to him.

Echopaw looked at the moon and saw the same streak of cloud like the night before when Mudpaw left. He wondered if Blade was thinking of them when he looked up at the moon too. Echopaw saw his chance to get a good night's sleep after staring at the moon's mysterious beauty.

"Higher Dawnpaw. You need to jump higher to get up the tree." The sun was high in the sky by now. Morning training was going well for the time being. Squirrelflight was guiding Dawnpaw up a tree. Her claws hooked into the wood, but to no avail. Dawnpaw kept sliding back down.

"I'm sorry. I've never tried to climb a tree of this size. It's difficult." Dawnpaw spat out some leaves that got into her mouth when she crashed to the ground.

"Echopaw, pay attention." Lionblaze snapped Echopaw out of it. He had been too busy watching Dawnpaw's training to realize he had training of his own to do.

Echopaw faced Lionblaze. "Sorry Lionblaze. I was just thinking of something."

"What? I bet it's about Dawnpaw isn't it?"

"No!... yeah. See, she seems so content training to be a warrior, but I heard her say she's destined to be a medicine cat."

Lionblaze widened his eyes. "Firestar didn't mention that to us. What do you mean she is destined?"

Echopaw prodded the leafy ground. "She was gifted with the knowledge of herbs and illnesses. I think she likes being a warrior better though."

Lionblaze looked back in the direction of camp. "Oh geez. We have a problem then. Squirrelflight is training her as an apprentice when Cinderheart should be training her as a medicine cat's apprentice. This is no good."

"No, Dawnpaw wants to be a warrior though. I can sense it in her heart."

"But if she was chosen to be a medicine cat, then she has to be one." Lionblaze sounded frustrated. "Mouse-dung."

"Can she at least finish today's training? Aren't medicine cats a bit trained to fight?" Echopaw's heart felt like breaking.

"Okay. Yes, this can work out. Most medicine cats get a few weeks of fighting practice before taking the position of medicine cat apprentice. That will be fine." Lionblaze breathed a word shallowly. "Cinderheart..."

"Can we get back to our training now?"

Lionblaze snapped out of it. "Sorry Echopaw. I was just thinking of something."

Heard that before.

"Okay, before we finish up today's training, me and Lionblaze want to see how far you have gotten because tomorrow we leave to join Silas' escort. Claws sheathed and be careful not to smack into any of these trees Echopaw."

Evening was sneaking up on the cats. The last light of the day was falling behind the mountains faster everyday. It's brightness stained the clouds purple and yellow. The animals of the forest were fleeing to their dens for the night, but the cats were still out finishing their training. Squirrelflight sat back with Lionblaze on a small uplift of ground at the top of the ridge. Echopaw faced Dawnpaw in the middle of a clearing with scattered leaves all over. Echopaw had smacked into a tree before because he had accidentally slipped on some leaves. Squirrelflight would never let that go.

Dawnpaw's shining smile was so cute. Her eyes sparkled like the day they had met. She steadied her paws and crouched. "You ready to get clobbered Echopaw?"

Echopaw crouched, pulling his tail in between his legs to be less exposed like Lionblaze had told him. "Not if I don't beat you first."

Lionblaze raised his chin. "Begin."

Dawnpaw started. She dashed toward Echopaw quickly, keeping her head down. Echopaw saw the move she had been taught and knew how to avoid it. Dawnpaw slid across the leaves and around Echopaw. Echopaw spinned around to face her and realized that she had improved it. Dawnpaw gripped onto Echopaw's leg and pulled it out from under him. She kept twisting until Echopaw's leg wasn't supporting his weight anymore and swung her hind leg onto his chest. Echopaw got hit hard, but used the force to escape the hold. He slid his paw out of her grip and fell back a few steps.

Echopaw retaliated with a flurry of strikes to her side. With the distracting swipes, Echopaw was able to gain some momentum into his final strike at her head. He turned and ran around Dawnpaw stealthily. Then, he pulled back his left paw while holding Dawnpaw back for a moment with his right. He only had a second before his chin hit the ground due to imbalance, so he struck her neck quickly and recoiled back. Dawnpaw felt the hit hard, but she wasn't out yet.

Dawnpaw readied her counter by stretching her hind legs and pouncing on top of Echopaw. He was knocked onto his side as Dawnpaw landed elegantly a tail-length away, about to pin him. Except Dawnpaw didn't know that Echopaw had trained almost every day for this situation. Echopaw got back up almost in a blink of an eyes and put his forehead out. Dawnpaw jumped, but since Echopaw was more forward than before, Echopaw hit her gut with his head and threw her off of him onto the ground. Finally, Echopaw rushed to her and pinned her neck down to the leaves.

"That's enough. Echopaw is the victor of this fight. Nicely done, both of you." Lionblaze and Squirrelflight walked down to where the two were. Lionblaze continued, "You have already learned many skills to fight and I believe that you only have to train for one more moon for your exam Echopaw."

"How did I do Squirrelflight? I did a lot of the moves you showed me, but it looked like he already knew all of them." Dawnpaw shook off the leaves stuck to her fur.

"Maybe because Lionblaze knows me all too well and taught him all the moves to counter mine." Squirrelflight got close to Echopaw and whispered into his ear. "Or maybe he needs to focus more on his own training."

"Echopaw, you did well. Let's catch some prey and get back to camp."

"Thanks. Can I catch the mice?"

"Leave some for Dawnpaw, okay?"

Echopaw rushed ahead. He was ready to enter the twolegplace.


	14. Chapter 12

"Silas, we're here!"

Echopaw, Lionblaze, Dawnpaw, Squirrelflight, and Dovewing were at the old camp, waiting on the hill for Silas. The morning light was rising above the tips of the mountains. The tranquil calls of birds vibrated through the field, the blades of dried grass whistled with the wind, and leaves from the dead trees blew in the wind. The monsters were ravaging the thunderpath like everyday, the river on the other side gushing rapidly. The border of the forest smelled of squirrel like always, making Echopaw's mouth water. He still wanted to learn to catch squirrel.

Dovewing was focusing on the top of the hill, probably sensing where Silas was. Lionblaze sat and looked more at the light from the sun other than staring for Silas. Squirrelflight was practicing moves with Dawnpaw again. Echopaw laid down and watched Dawnpaw quietly. Dawnpaw was getting clumsier with her training. Maybe she was going to be a medicine cat after all.

"Ah... Warriors. You are here." Silas appeared. He began to walk down the hill towards the group. "It is very nice to meet with you again."

Lionblaze got up and approached Silas halfway up the hill. "Silas, it is our pleasure. We are here to tell you that we are able to journey with you."

Silas smiled. "I'm so glad that you would accept such a vague offer. My group shall give you the best in transport of service and attitude."

Echopaw rushed up to Silas as well. "Silas, I'm really eager to meet your leader. Can you tell me anything about him? Like how he manages to keep the kittypets in order."

"Kittypets... Oh you must mean the twoleg cats. We don't like such a name as that. It seems too... neanderthal." Silas scratched his head. "Maybe just call us... twoleg cats. It's just that my partners and other twoleg cats won't like such a kit-like title for themselves."

"Okay. So what is your leader like?"

"Our leader... He is a cat of great honor. He risks his reputation and time to keep us all alive. Through any disaster, he can heal almost any injury other than age-prone causes. That is all I can say, for I have made a commitment to not reveal too much about him."

Wow, Echopaw thought, he must be very special. Risking reputation, healing all injuries... This cat seems very strange. And secretive. Why would he make cats promise not to reveal his true self? What is he hiding? "He sounds honorable alright. How long will it take to travel to him?"

Silas pointed his nose westward of the twolegplace. "It's about a few days of travel. His own twoleg home is near the ocean."

Lionblaze looked at him questionably. "Ocean? What's that?"

"Umm... The ocean... how to describe it's seemingly majesty? Oh, it is where the sun goes under in the evening."

Lionblaze opened his mouth wide. "Oh! You mean the sun-drown place!"

Silas tilted his head slightly. "Whatever you want to call it. My master's home is close to it."

"We need to stop by Midnight's den as well, Echopaw. She is very wise and I'm sure you'll be surprised when you meet her." Lionblaze smirked.

Silas flinched and stared at Lionblaze. "You know Midnight?" Silas recoiled and coughed. "Let's get going. My partners are just beyond the brush. We need to get a head start so we can get distance before night creeps up on us."

"Wait, you know of Midnight?" Lionblaze put a paw on Silas' overturned shoulder.

Silas brushed it off. "No, I mistook who you knew from someone else."

Dawnpaw ran past them. "I bet I can beat you all to the brush."

Echopaw smiled and kept her spirit alive by racing her. Silas' mood cheered up and Lionblaze was dragged away from the topic. Squirrelflight was on Echopaw's tail, but all the others were walking with Silas. Dovewing had noticed how Silas reacted and had that look that he had before on Okani. Silas began to run after a few seconds with Lionblaze by his side.

Silas yelled. "I find this mildly amusing, but I must warn you not to scare off my group. They are not tune to meeting strangers without an introduction."

Dawnpaw slowed and soon stopped. Echopaw caught up with her and breathed heavily. The had to catch their breath again. Squirrelflight was already heaving when she walked up to them. She was too old to run that fast.

Silas cut in front of us all. He turned to face us. "Thank you for halting. Hopefully you didn't already scare them off with all your noise." Silas faced the brush and walked through.

Echopaw followed first. He ducked under each small stick and reached the other side in no time.

There, Echopaw saw 7 different looking cats. All of them had collars on and looked well fed. Echopaw could see some of them were strong, smart, timid, or lithe. Each one had their own attributes. Silas walked in front of them all. "I'm so glad that you all have accepted my request to transport these cats to the ocean. I know how you will fight the urge to return to your twolegs before the journey is finished, and I thank you beforehand for your self-sacrifices."

The first cat to reply was a big, brown pelted gray striped tom. His eyes were amber, and he had a number of recent scars across his chest. "Silas, you said that we will be rewarded for this job. What is the reward?"

Silas' tone firmed. "You do not have to know, Thor, but I will say that it will be a good surprise. However... if any of you are looking for the answer to that question immediately, then you may leave right now and abandon the leader's promise of protection."

None of them even tried to leave. Echopaw didn't see any of them even flinch. They must really like their leader's protection. If they all rely on him, what would happen to them if the leader died? No wonder he's secluded and secretive.

Silas motioned his tail for all the cats to line up in a straight line. He walked slowly to one end as the rest of the warriors came through the brush. Silas waved his paw to the first cat. "This is my trusted friend, Silvia."

Silvia was a small silver she-cat with mottled black chest fur, hazel eyes, sharp ears, and a very slick tail. "It is my pleasure to serve my master in such a way as this. Before introducing the rest of us Silas, can you tell us who these cats are so we can make a proper introduction."

"This is StoneClan, another new part of the forest clans. They believe that BloodClan is evil, just like us, and is hoping to make an acquaintance with our master to settle a truce." Silas smiled. "This cat in front is Echopaw, their future leader."

"Nice to meet you Echopaw." Silvia was like Silas a bit.

"Next we have Cinsen."

Cinsen was a tall, brown pelted tom with a scarred ear and paw, ragged fur on his back, and gray eyes. He looked very tough. "Cinsen. That's my name all right. It's amazing how you still remember my name from all those years ago you left me to fight those loners solo."

Silas stared him down. "I only left you because the others were in more trouble."

Cinsen was annoying to say the least. "Whatever."

"Third is the wonderful Jax."

Jax was a huge tom. Almost as big as Lionblaze. He had white fur with gray splotches on his nose, had very sharp ears and tail, and had tall legs. "I see that we will get along just fine on our trip, Echopaw. Your friends look... enthusiastic to say the least." He was smiling at Dawnpaw when he said it. She blushed.

"Now onto-"

"Isle." The she-cat interrupted. "My name is Isle, and I am so excited to meet actual warrior cats. I've heard so much about how you cats defeated the first BloodClan and drove them away. I hope that you can do that again." She was about Echopaw's height and had white fur, a narrow face, an eccentric hop in her step, and sparkling blue eyes. "And of course maybe get rid of those mouse-brained loners as well. I liked the ordinary loners better."

"We'll see what we can do, but our priority is to stop BloodClan." Echopaw tried to sound strong and smart. Make a good impression.

Silas continued. "The fifth cat in the lineup is Seer, who I must inform you is mute. He was never taught to talk and will never be taught. I think it's better that way because he has seen things that would make you want to kill yourself nine times."

Seer's eyes were cold and bottomless. He was a gray cat with big paws, narrow body tone, scratches around every part of his chest and face, and a strange mark on his neck. It looked something like a picture of some kind, but it was too small for Echopaw to make out.

Echopaw silently said, "I'm sorry..."

Seer closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Finally, since you've already met Okani here, my right-paw cat, we have Thor, my left-paw cat."

Thor and Okani bowed, but Thor stopped in mid bow and whispered to Echopaw, "Be wary of me. I'm vicious."

Echopaw jumped back. He would have to be careful. Thor seemed like the type to kill without remorse. Echopaw didn't know if he should ask Silas more about Thor, but he decided to keep quiet.

Silas casually strolled in front of Echopaw. "Can your cats introduce themselves as well?"

Dawnpaw stepped up first. "I'm Dawnpaw!"

"I'm Dovewing, temporary warrior of StoneClan, warrior of ThunderClan."

"Lionblaze was last. "I am Lionblaze, temporary lead warrior of StoneClan."

"I'm Squirrelflight, temporary warrior of StoneClan, warrior of ThunderClan, deputy of ThunderClan."

Echopaw was shocked. Squirrelflight is deputy of ThunderClan?!

Silas nodded his head. "Now that we all know each other now, we should start on our journey to the ocean. Our leader shall be waiting there to reward all who keeps to their commitment to transverse with StoneClan. As for you..." Silas looked at Echopaw and smirked. "I hope that you can get accustomed to the twolegplace as soon as you can."

Silas led the way while the rest of them were jumbled together with the twoleg cats. Echopaw could sense that three of the twoleg cats in particular were staying as far back as they could: Cinsen, Seer, and Jax. Those were a strange group indeed. What would they have in common to walk next to each other? Echopaw also felt like he had to watch out for Jax's charisma with she-cats. Jax looked like one of those toms who could convince any she-cat to do what he wanted. Seer was too quiet to be normal. Cinsen, though, was the type to lead a resistance. Echopaw didn't know if that benefitted the twoleg cats enough with the risk. And Thor...

Echopaw knew that even though they were all kittypets, some were clever enough to realize what they could do with the leader's trust.


	15. Chapter 13

"Silas, how exactly are we going to avoid the savage loners and BloodClan cats?"

Dawnpaw walked next to Silas. The sun was still high in the sky, but the cats knew the season was beginning to be unforgiving. The sun would set quickly and catch the cats in a difficult position if they weren't careful. The dens around them were huge. Twolegs were all over the place, but luckily, the cats were going around most of the twoleg obstacles. They tried to stay on the grassy edge of the twolegplace, but soon the grass would end and come upon a jumble of more twoleg dens. Echopaw got closer to their conversation.

Silas looked at Dawnpaw. "We will have difficulty traveling in the daylight, but there is another option we have. This decision is up to you." He turned to Echopaw who was silently stalking them. "Either we travel the twolegplace during the night only and find shelter during the day, or we can travel through the Poisons' territory."

Echopaw was stupefied. "Poisons? Who are the Poisons?"

Okani jumped into the talk. "The Poisons are another group of loners who are barely able to live because of their dangerous living environment. They are a bit on the dangerous side, but they are too weak to start a war with us Twoleg cats yet." Okani searched the area around the group. "The Poisons' entrances are located all over the twolegplace, which gives them easy access to any territory they want with ease. That is what makes them a threat."

Dawnpaw spoke again. "These Poisons, how did they get that group name?"

Silas continued to explain. "Like she said before, they live in horrible conditions. Cats that join the group aren't expected to live past 60 moons unless they are really fit. It's because of their illnesses that kill them quickly, the reason why they are called the Poisons."

Echopaw thought of the risk, but also took into account the danger of staying exposed to the loners and BloodClan. "Would you say that it'd be easier to travel through the Poisons' territory?"

Silas slumped his shoulders as he walked. "I would say it's about the same risk, except one would get us to my leader sooner. If you choose to travel the Poisons territory it risks getting sick, but usually a cat doesn't get sick if they are only visiting it for a day."

Dawnpaw got close to Echopaw, "If it gets us there faster, why not?"

"What about the illnesses?" Echopaw glimpsed at her strangely.

"If anyone gets sick, I can find the herbs to heal them. I just want to make this trip as quick as possible so that we can get back to camp sooner."

Echopaw walked and pondered his decision. If Dawnpaw liked the odds, then why couldn't he too? The Poisons don't sound too tough. Echopaw reached his answer. "Silas, we can travel through the Poisons' territory."

Thor snuck up behind Echopaw and let out a "mreow." Echopaw jumped as Thor enjoyed his laughter. "Ha, ha! Well, you better be prepared to sense cats comin' up from behind ya, because the Poisons like the shadows and use them to their advantages. That the only thing I like about those health-ridden cats."

Thor did seem intimidating to Echopaw, but he could feel that Thor was a bit kit-like. Thor could just be fooling with his emotions with his joking words, or he could be fooling with his emotion with his haunting words. Echopaw didn't know which one to classify Thor as.

Jax pushed Thor out of the way and got ahead of Echopaw. "Silas, you know how much I hate those flea-pelted cats! Every single one has hideous appearances. So much that it hurts my image by just looking at them!"

"Jax," Silas flashed those stern eyes again, "I don't care if their ugliness is contagious. I promised these cats an escort, and you know how much I would do to keep my promises."

Echopaw left the conversation to walk with the cats in the back. Lionblaze and Seer were next to each other. Echopaw decided to start another talk with them. "Hey Lionblaze, Seer, hear that we're going to travel through the Poisons' territory?"

Seers eyes immediately shot open. His whole body started to shiver. Echopaw saw the reaction to his announcement and realized it was like his reaction to the visions. Maybe Seer had a horrible experience there that Silas had told him about. Lionblaze stopped aside Seer and rested a paw on his shoulder. Seer calmed a bit.

Lionblaze gritted his teeth. "We need Jayfeather. Only if he was here, we would be able to hear about all your thoughts and find out what's picking at your minds."

"Do you mean me too?" Echopaw stopped walking as well.

"Yes, Dawnpaw, Crowpaw, Mudpaw, Seer here, and all these cats." Lionblaze sighed. "Jayfeather had the ability to read minds."

"I see."

"He doesn't." Lionblaze smiled. Echopaw narrowed his eyes in confusion. Lionblaze looked at him. "Jayfeather is blind."

"Oh. Well he must be special then. Why didn't he come?"

"He's ThunderClan's medicine cat. He has a duty to fulfill to ThuderClan and can't leave it."

Echopaw turned his attention back to Seer. He wasn't shivering anymore, and his eyes had reverted back to the icy gaze. Seer got up and started to walk again. Lionblaze and Echopaw watched as he continued unwavered. Seer is a strange one to have a breakdown like that and recover from it so quickly. What exactly happened in his past that made him shiver so much?

Echopaw joined up with the rest of the cats. Isle, Squirrelflight, and Silvia were talking with each other. Echopaw could hears a lot of giggles from Isle. It sounded like an interesting talk.

"Hey Isle, what are you laughing about?" Echopaw somehow was able to merge into their group.

Silvia seemed annoyed by his interruption, but Isle was happy to answer. "Oh, I was just listening to Squirrelflight's adventures. Have you heard them before?"

"No"

Squirrelflight smiled. "It's pretty interesting actually. Many moons ago, I received a prophecy that the forest we lived in was to be destroyed by the twolegs and we had to journey to find a new home. It was me, Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, Stonefur, Feathertail, and Brambleclaw, or Bramblestar, as he's called now."

Echopaw was intrigued. Now he knew why the clans had left their previous home in the forest. He heard tale of how she and her companions traveled through the mountains and met the Tribe. Echopaw had heard of the Tribe from his mother long ago in a bedtime story. He never really believed that there were cats in the mountains that jumped high enough to catch birds and live in the cold blizzards. The tale she told of also revealed where the clans lived now. Near a lake past the twolegplace. Echopaw saw some hope to witness a gathering of all the clans including StoneClan if they were ever able to visit sometime.

"Oh, and there's one more thing about the journey too. We arrived at the sun-drown place because of a vision Brambleclaw was having. There, we encountered something that was so surprising, I almost fainted." She paused for dramatic effect. "A badger."

Isle gasped. Echopaw would have gasped to if he didn't still want to keep his leadership image. He compensated by asking, "What happened? Did it kill any of your friends?"

"No. The badger didn't want to kill us. It actually was a friend to us. She knew of StarClan and could speak to them. She knew how to speak cat."

Silvia looked to her in disbelief. "What do you mean? Badgers don't make friends with cats. It be like saying a hawk is friendly to mice."

Squirrelflight closed her eyes. "No, they don't. But this one was not an ordinary badger. She told us that the clans were in danger of being killed and we had to return to them as fast as possible. She saved our lives and many lives in the clans multiple times, from our first meeting with her to the battle between StarClan and the Dark Forest."

The battle between StarClan and the Dark Forest!? What was that? Echopaw shook his head. "Squirrelflight, can you tell me about that battle some other time?'

Squirrelflight opened her eyes and nodded at him. "Yeah. It is one to remember."

Isle frowned and shoved him. "Don't steal the story for yourself! I want to hear about it too!" Echopaw laughed a little.

After a bit more travel, the group suddenly stopped. Echopaw forced his way to the lead. Silas stood with Lionblaze before a split in the path. One way tooke them towards the twolegplace while the other led down a small hill and ended at what looked like a tunnel. The cats started to talk as Echopaw got to Silas.

Silas looked at him. "This is where you make your decision final. Do you want to travel through the Poison's territory, or through the Loner, Twoleg cats, and BloodClan territory?"

Echopaw thought of the risks and advantages again. One option would risk them getting sick or hurt, but was faster and safer than traveling through the other territories. Echopaw then thought of something. "Where exactly is the Poisons' territory in the twolegplace?"

Silas grinned. "That's the thing. The Poisons' territory isn't in the twolegplace." Silas looked down the path at the tunnel. "It's under it."

Echopaw was surprised by the new information. The Poisons were under the twolegplace. But how? Echopaw saw more risks in that option of travel now. "Silas, what do you mean? Cats aren't voles. We can't live underground. How can they?"

Silas chuckled. "No, it's not what you think. There is a complex of tunnels that reach all over the upwalkerplace. The Poisons use these tunnels, known as sewers, to travel to any point in the twolegplace in a blink of an eye. The reason why us cats don't travel down there is because... Well..." Silas looked for the right words. "It's where strange waters are poured into. Mostly rain water, but twolegs sometimes throw strange things into them.

Echopaw was disgusted for a moment. Then, his mind was more wracked than it has ever been. This decision might decide life or death for them. Echopaw looked to his clanmates for their input. Lionblaze didn't seem like he cared for which path they took. Dawnpaw was thinking of something that Echopaw couldn't identify. Squirrelflight was distracted by the other cats. Dovewing was in a trance though. Wait, Dovewing... "Dovewing, are the sewers safe?"

Silas looked at him confused. Dovewing closed her eyes and reopened them. "I can't see much in the darkness, and the stink is blocking my sense of smell, but I do hear voices. Aboveground there are multitudes of dangerous cats that might be hard to avoid. Either way is dangerous Echopaw."

Silas interrupted. "What... How can you... What"s going on here?"

Echopaw turned to the paths. "Nothing to worry about Silas. I have come to a choice." Echopaw paraded down the left path. "We are going to travel through the Poisons' territory."

Thor seemed excited by the decision. "I've been waiting a long time to study the attack methods of the Poisons."

Jax became furious. "I can't handle those fleabags! Why did you have to choose that way!?"

Silas flashed a searing gaze at Jax, which shut him up instantly. Silas returned to Echopaw. "We will take the left path and enter the tunnels then. We should get to my master in approximately 1 day of travel."

Dawnpaw thought of something. "Isn't it too dark to travel through the sewers?"

Okani gladly answered. "It is light enough to travel during the day, and when night approaches, the twolegs' lights turn on and make the sewers unbelievably bright."

"O-Okay. It still sounds really dark during the day though."

Echopaw encouraged her. "Don't be afraid. When we adjust to the darkness, we'll probably be able to see a few fox-length in front of us, right?"

Silas nodded. "We must be on our way. If we don't gain enough ground during the daytime, the Poisons might find us."

Silas led the cats down the path and in front of the gaping entrance to the sewers. The walls and ground were made of a type of stone and felt hard to the touch. The height of the tunnel must be two fox-lengths high, and a small stream of dark water was flowing out of it. It was definitely not ordinary water, for it smelled horribly musky. Okani made an amazing leap into the tunnel and searched the area for any other cats. After checking, she came back to the group and signaled the okay for them to enter. Echopaw walked next to Lionblaze and Silas. The she-cats bundled together as close as they wanted while the toms pridefully strutted in.

It was dark, almost enough to the point they couldn't see two tail-lengths in front of them. Echopaw had underestimated how dark it was. He was cautious to stay near Silas so that he didn't lose his footing. "Hey, if we can't see anything, how are we to know where we're going?"

Okani was far in front of him. "Do not fret, little leader. I know these tunnels like the back of my paw. Like Seer," Her head sulked lower, "I've had some bad experiences in this place."

Echopaw remembered Seer. He looked back and saw Seer glimpsing in every direction with each step. He was terribly nervous.

Jax looked on the disgusted side, which Echopaw could understand. Jax was one to stay clean and perfect, so this must be difficult for him to withstand the indignity of traveling through such mucky surroundings. Wow, Echopaw thought, I just sympathized with a kittypet clean freak.

The rest were trying to keep together in the blackness. Dovewing couldn't sense where they were, so there was no need for her powers anymore. They would have to trek carefully.

This was going to be one long night.

After a few more hours of unbearable travel, the group was getting restless.

"Silas, this is getting harder. the river of muck is getting wider and the path more narrow," Silvia complained.

"I know. Just keep walking and the river will get narrow again."

The twists and turns started to confuse Echopaw. Sometimes they had to cross over the stream on a small bridge or turn corners. It was like a maze down here. Echopaw couldn't believe that Okani knew where she was going.

With the smell getting worse, there was a disturbance in the group. Cinsen was pushing his way to the front. When he got there, he got ahead of Echopaw and turned, stopping Silas. His eyes blazed. "Silas, none of us can cope with this travel any longer! I demand we immediately find a way out!"

Silas held a paw to his mouth. "Sh, we need to be quiet. We are getting closer to the heart of the Poisons' territory. They are waking up about now and with you yelling, they'll find us."

"No, I've had just about enough." Jax joined in with Cinsen, standing beside him in defiance. "This rotting place had spoiled my pelt well enough. I don't care if we give up our promise to aid these cats. We demand light!"

Like some kind of miracle, the tunnels were immediately filled with an overbearing stream of bright light. The group was temporarily blinded.

Echopaw was the first to readjust to the brightness of their surroundings and saw what the sewers were like. The walls were completely made of stone just like the floor. Multiple paths were connected to the path they were on and consisted of various bridges over the dirtied water. The roof was high above them, and he could see the type of steps he saw in Dawnpaw's barn leading up to brown circles that looked removable. The walls were also covered in strange writings and colors from the twolegs' color making items. It was a maze down here.

Okani and Silas regrouped with each other and stood side to side. In a matter of seconds, they suddenly crouched. Echopaw saw another group of cats walk closer to them from the other side of the stream. Their pelts were dirtied and ragged and looked as if they had just been in a fight with dogs. However, their eyes showed different. They were filled with the desire to survive by all means possible. A fight with them seemed inevitable.

One of the cats shouted out, "Intruders! Everyone, get to your positions!"

Like a swarm, the cats separated into multiple groups, jumping into the water and swimming to the other side, or sprinting around to the front of the bridges. When all the groups stopped, Echopaw realized what they did. The mysterious cats had surrounded them.

Everyone readied for a fight. Jax and Cinsen cowardly ran to the center of the crowd of Clan and Twoleg cats. Lionblaze stood first at the rear of the group with Dovewing, Isle, Silvia, and Thor while Echopaw stood at the front with Silas, Okani, Dawnpaw, and Squirrelflight.

The cat that had shouted out before approached his group that was closest to Echopaw. He stood before them and announced, "By the rule of our new leader, we shall confront any trespassers with force."

Echopaw stared into the cats firm eyes and unsheathed his claws. He was ready to fight.


	16. Chapter 14

"StoneClan, attack!"

Echopaw's order vibrated the walls themselves followed by multiple "mreow"s from StoneClan, Twoleg cats, and Poisons. The Poison cats were the first to start fighting, taking on the group from all directions. StoneClan and the twoleg cats were out numbered, 15 to 12, but they had fully trained warriors with them. Echopaw saw this as the opportunity to utilize his newly attained skills.

As the rear of the group collided with one half of the Poisons, Echopaw and the front shot towards the Poison commander. The Poison cats, as determined as ever, tried to block their way with their seemingly strong muscle builds. They weren't strong enough, however, to hold back Silas and Squirrelflight, breaking apart the wall of cats with one crash. Dawnpaw rushed to join the fray after witnessing the upper paw they had on the Poisons. Not the ones to give up, though, the Poisons quickly retaliated by jumping onto Silas and Okani. Dawnpaw hurried to their aid while Squirrelflight and Echopaw ran for the commander.

The commander was more unique than the others, sporting a sleek reddish-brown pelt, tall legs, and a tail that twisted into a strange curl. His sharp teeth were like nothing Echopaw had seen before. Almost as sharp as an eagle's talon, as his mother used to say. The commander's eyes were shrouded by a veil of searing fury as he prepared to fight to the death. Two other cats were beside him, looking big enough to actually make a wall that couldn't be broken like the other one. This was going to be harder than Echopaw thought.

Squirrelflight was a bit swifter than Echopaw and was able to attack the Poisons first. She took down one of the blocking cats in an instant. The Poison cat skidded off the bridge into the mucky water, but he would be back soon. The second Poison swiped his paw underneath Squirrelflight's hind legs, giving him leverage to jab her from the back. She wasn't affected too much by the diversion and leaped into the cat's flank, putting them in a tussle.

Echopaw had to face the commander alone. The Poison cat stepped closer, trying to intimidate Echopaw, but it didn't succeed. Echopaw held his stance firmly, ready to take any form of attack by the Poison commander.

The commander made the first move, unsheathing his long claws and lunging to grip Echopaw's pelt. Echopaw couldn't risk getting caught in any of the commander's attacks. If he did, then they might unleash lethal swipes across his body. Echopaw dodged his lunge and countered by grabbing the toms hind leg. Echopaw pulled him back and slashed his claws against the tom's neck.

The commander took the attack like it was nothing and grabbed Echopaw's paw. Echopaw gasped as the tom opened his mouth to reveal his talon-like teeth. The commander laughed as he gripped Echopaw's chest with his other paw. Echopaw struggled to get out of the tom's hold. Echopaw then saw his chance to escape when the commander released Echopaw's right paw to swipe his claws across his face. Before Echopaw gave him the chance to do that, he pushed the tom away with his one paw, making the attempt to scar his face a failure.

Echopaw took this moment of relief to assault the commander again with a run at the commander at full force. The commander wasn't prepared for the counter so soon and was hit hard. He fell off the bridge into the water with the other cat. He landed in the river with a shattering "splash!" Echopaw had eluded death once more, but it would only be a matter of minutes before the commander returned to the battle.

He took the chance to survey the scene of the battle. Lionblaze looked intense in the battle with another big tom and it looked as though he had already frightened off another cat. Thor was able to convince Jax and Cinsen to join them in the battle and was fighting off three other Poison cats. Silvia and Isle were running around all of the enemies, scratching each of them randomly. The rear of the group was able to fight off the bulk of the attackers.

Silas and Okani were still dragging the multitudes of cats off their backs, only to have the Poisons jumping onto them again. Dawnpaw was helping Squirrelflight tussle with the one big tom. Echopaw was watching as the commander broke the surface of the water far off down one of the other tunnels. It would be awhile before he could drag himself out of the water and rush back, so Echopaw decided to help Okani and Silas.

Four cats continued to ravage Silas' and Okani's back every time the Poisons jumped onto them. Silas was getting exhausted from throwing them off his back and looked ready to collapse. Echopaw saw the previous cat he had thrown off slowly getting up to leap again, but Echopaw stopped him by holding him down and pushing against his throat. The cat gasped for air as Echopaw shouted, "Leave us alone!"

Echopaw released him and let him run away into the maze of tunnels. The old Drake would have ended the cat's life then and there, but the code that he now lived by made him more forgiving. Echopaw felt more warrior than he had ever did in this fight.

Echopaw turned to the rest of the Poisons still clinging to Okani and Silas. Echopaw approached Silas and bit into the Poisons neck, tossing him off of Silas into the then hurried to the cats on top of Okani and began to push them off. One by one, Echopaw was able to get them off of here and into the stream. They all screeched as they fell a few tail-lengths into the unknown water.

Okani and Silas picked each other up. Silas had an eye closed, probably due to a unlucky scratch from the Poison cat. "Thanks, ya' kit." His attitude had changed to a more fun-loving tone.

Echopaw nodded and saw as the other cat Squirrelflight had first pushed off was back and fighting her and Dawnpaw. The two burly toms were pushing Dawnpaw and Squirrelflight closer to the edge of the bridge.

Immediately and without thinking, Echopaw charged into the two toms. They fell onto each other and tumbled to the other side of the bridge. Silas and Okani joined up with Dawnpaw and Squirrelflight, ready to assist again. Echopaw left the rest to them.

"Poisons, regroup and cease fighting." A new voice bounded off the stone walls, stopping all StoneClan, Twoleg cats, and Poisons alike. The Poisons ran over the bridges and through the tunnels toward the source of the voice, which wasn't very far off.

Echopaw watched where the Poisons were going and followed. After a few bridge crosses and turns of corners, he saw where the Poison's group had gathered and who had shouted.

A single tall, tan pelted tom stood at the front of the group and was scanning the cats' appearances. All of them, or what's left of them, had sustained damage from StoneClan and the Twoleg cats. The new voices owner, however, looked unharmed. He wasn't in the battle, so who was he? The commander had disappeared from the group, but a couple new faces could be seen. Echopaw continued to analyze the cats.

"Hey, you!" The tall tom noticed him. His first reaction was to run, but then the cat said something else. "Wait! I just want to talk. I am Silas' friend!"

Echopaw stopped. Seer! He hadn't noticed Seer's absence in the battle the entire time. Where was he? Echopaw turned around to watch the tan cat casually make his way to approach him.

"I'm so very sorry for the... unwelcoming party." The tan tom walked closer.

"I'm guessing you know Silas as well with those long pauses of yours?"

The tan cat rolled his eyes. "Yeah, good guess."

Echopaw had gathered StoneClan and the Twoleg cats again. Dawnpaw examined all their injuries while Silas and Echopaw discussed with the tan furred cat.

"Well, Silas... It's been too long. What was it? 25 moons?" The tom smiled.

Silas was amused. "Yeah, I'd say that's about right. That was when you stopped a battle between these sewer cats and the Twoleg cats. What else can you ever do?"

The tan tom tilted his head slightly. "Yeah, pretty much. So, are you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

Echopaw stepped closer and sat down. He bowed his head and answered, "My name is Echopaw, future leader of StoneClan."

"StoneClan, eh?" The tom smirked again. "My name is Koul. My title is also commonly known as The Messenger. I can get any information to any group in no time, but my loyalty lies within the Poisons as second in command. Now that introductions are finished, tell me... Why are all of you here?"

Silas regained his sense of reality and shut his fun-loving self out again. "My... Koul, I am here to give these cats an escort to my leader to come to an agreement of alliance between Twoleg cats and StoneClan. We did not mean any harm to the Poisons. They were first to attack."

Koul looked taken aback. "They attacked first." He looked away. "Dang that mouse-brain. I told him it was not a good idea." Koul glanced back and shook his head. "Nevermind. I will personally tell my leader to let you pass safely through the sewers. And I also must comment on your incredible fighting ability. Never have I seen all of these cats injured so."

"Wait, before you go," Echopaw stared at him, "Where is Seer?"

"Oh, sorry. Seer is at our camp. I'll send him your way when I get back. You know..." Koul stood up. "Seer saved your lives. He didn't speak, but I could read it in his eyes that his friends needed help."

Echopaw thought of Seer repeatedly. Seer might be a great warrior with that nice heart of his. Many of the Twoleg cats here could be warriors. Why doesn't he start mentioning that StoneClan needs new members?

Koul took his leave and guided the rest of the Poison cats back to their camp. The stares of the cats that had fought were unforgiving. Echopaw could sense the overwhelming resentment toward him and his clan. They had just made a new enemy in the twolegplace.

Okani walked around the group and examined StoneClan's and the other cats' injuries with Dawnpaw. "They don't look too severe. None that might get them sick in this place." Okani walked to them and looked at Silas. "But Silas, your wounds are deep. We must get you back to your twolegs to heal."

She wasn't wrong. Silas had gashes all over his flank and his eye was still closed. His paws were covered in cuts as well."No!" Silas heaved a heavy remark. "No... I promised these cats a transport, and I will not break my promise."

Okani turned to Echopaw for help persuading. "We are capable of handling ourselves. If Okani here can still guide us, we can make it to your leader." Echopaw thought of his promise. "Your promise was to provide us with transport. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a part of it."

Silas settled a bit. "You are too young to be this smart, heh heh." Silas smiled and half nodded. "Yeah, I guess you are right. Silvia," he called to the group of cats. Silvia came out and stood in front of Silas. "Silvia, will you help me get back home my dear?"

"Of course Silas. I know an exit that's close. We passed near it a bit earlier. Let's get home." Silvia gave Silas a shoulder to put some of his weight onto.

"Okani, you are the leader of the Twoleg cats here now. Thor is second in command and please," his voice got quieter, "Keep these cats in line and give my regards to the leader."

"Yes Silas. I will make sure none of these cats fall out of line. Please, relax yourself." Okani raised her chin. "I promise to deliver these cats to our leader."

"Thank you..." Silas and Silvia walked over bridges and down the tunnels until they were out of sight. It was sad to see him leave, but Echopaw remembered that this trip wasn't for Silas, but for the unity of the Twoleg cats and StoneClan. Though the power Silas wielded may have been enough to command a small band of cats like these, nothing compares to the power the Twoleg cat leader must have. If he was able to convince the leader, it would be much easier to collect cats with his consent in the matter. Silas had been a good friend though.

Okani looked over the cats again. "I am now your temporary leader, my cats. Thor, your position has raised to second in command, but the mission has not changed. We still have an obligation to StoneClan... No... an obligation to our leader to deliver these warriors to him. Now that all of you have had a taste of a bit of adrenaline, let's get back to the mission."

Dawnpaw finished observing Dovewing's injuries. "Everyone is well enough to travel again, and there is no risk of infection in these wounds. And since the Poison have agreed to let us pass, there's nothing stopping us from proceeding. What do you think Echopaw?"

Echopaw studied the looks on the warriors. They were ready to travel again. Then he looked at the Twoleg cats. Their reactions weren't the most friendly.

Cinsen was still furious. "This smell will be in my nose forever if I don't get some fresh air soon!"

Echopaw gazed around them. "Okani, how much longer do we have to travel?"

"Umm..." Okani sniffed the air and glimpsed down one of the tunnels. "We should be in the heart of the sewers by now. If we travel now, I'd say it take us until morning."

"We should get moving then. We don't want to be in the darkness again, do we?" Echopaw was able to convince most of the cats except Cinsen and Jax.

Jax was cleaning himself. "I can't take the stench of those mouse-dung cats! My pelt was almost ruined forever!"

Cinsen's eyes blazed, but he was able to cope with Echopaw's decision. "Whatever, but when I get outta here, I'm outta here for good. I hope to never see you again when I do."

Okani lead the group again. Echopaw felt lonely without Silas by his side. Echopaw continued on in the silence of the tunnels. The rushing water had slowed, the walls and floor became less damp, and the lights above them flickered on and off. Once in awhile, Echopaw would spot another group of Poisons down the other tunnels on their patrols. They didn't bother Echopaw any more with Koul's order to let them pass. It was a quiet time until Seer regrouped with them.

"Seer! We're glad you're back. How can we ever thank you for sending Koul to stop the fight?" Echopaw was first to greet him, and maybe the only one as well.

Seer was still as silent as a mouse. He bowed and returned to the crowd of cats. Echopaw wondered how Seer knew Koul. Was Seer a Poison in his past? And why would Koul do something like this for Seer? What did he owe him?

Echopaw refocused and saw that Thor had joined him.

Thor smirked. "I never got to ask how you came about meeting Silas. Can you tell me, or is it too much of a secret to tell?"

"No, it's not a secret. Silas and Okani saw Lionblaze and the others traveling around the Twolegplace and followed them to me, Dawnpaw, Crowpaw, and..." Echopaw paused. "We talked and planned this journey to the Twoleg leader after meeting out in a field near our camp."

Thor nodded his head. "Yes, Okani is a sly one when it comes to following cats. Another question... What are you planning to do here?"

"I'm going to start a clan of warriors. I want to talk to cats around here and try to give them a chance to join and become apprentices. When we are able to train enough apprentices into warriors, we are going to combat BloodClan."

"BloodClan!" Thor widened his eyes. "But they are too tough. None of the other groups of cats even stand a chance defeating Scourge. How will you?"

"We are more in tune to fighting than most cats here in the twolegplace. If we can stop BloodClan before they leave and gather enough warriors, we might be able to kill Scourge."

Thor slowed. "Well, I know a few cats that might want to join."

Echopaw stared at him. "Why did you make that comment when you greeted me? You know, 'be wary, I'm dangerous.'"

"Oh that. Is that what has been making you jumpy around me? I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to get to know you more before I opened up a bit. See," He nodded to the cats behind him. "I like to intimidate cats I meet to show them they shouldn't mess with me. Then, when I determine if they are friendly or not, I either lighten up or get a bit more rough on 'em. Cats around here aren't very trustworthy, so you got to show them that you won't be broken so easily. I can see that you are nice now, though, so I'll lighten up, you know, if you want me to."

Echopaw could see his frightening words were all an act... just like his. Was he really ready to lead StoneClan? "Yeah, lighten up. Anyways, you were saying, about the other cats."

They continued their chat for many more hours. The night seemed to never be over. The group was glad to be in the light, and the smell had almost dispersed after they had passed the center of the sewers where the Poisons lurked. It would not be long before they would reach the exit as the slow journey to the Twoleg cat's leader became stronger and swifter.

"Hey, boss. Look what we brought." The brown tom that held the item around his neck that opened the she-cat's prison approached an alleyway. Three cats were pushing the cage behind the cat in front while the apprentice struggled with all her might continuously.

"Let me out already. I have nothing to say to any of you sick monsters." The she-cat began to bang against where the cats were pushing her prison.

A big black tom came out of the darkness. His eyes gleamed hazel and a strange pattern was marked on his chest. He smiled when he saw the she-cat. "This is the feisty one you have been telling other cats about, isn't it?"

"Yes sir, and may I be the first to tell you the crucial news about her." He grinned. "She's a clan cat."

"A clan cat you say." The black tom licked his paws while studying her appearance. "This does not look like the cat my accomplice told me about. We a looking for a gray tom, but he also mentioned a ginger one along with the gray cat. However, she doesn't have the features of that cat either." He trodded closer to the cage. "This one's usefulness is not completely diminished though."

The brown tom tilted his head. "How sir? We can't get any information out of her. What use can this fox-dung cat do for us?"

"Remember that prisoner of ours we have down in the sewers? He has served his time down there long enough." The black tom was nose to nose with the brown tom. "I think a worthy trade is in order."

The she-cat in the cage smashed into the walls again. "My mate needs me! I will not stop trying to escape!"

The black cat slammed a paw into the bars and hit the she-cat onto the cold floor. "Be quiet, young one. Never talk of any type of love in my range of hearing, or a hit to the chest won't be the only thing I do to you." His claws unsheathed. The she-cat stared at how curved his claws were. Enough to end anything he gets a hold of. He turned to the brown tom. "Take her to the meeting place with a large group of cats. I expect our friends not to be so kind to give us our brother back."

The brown tom nodded as the rest of the cats began to push the cage again. The she-cat laid motionless on the floor of the cage, shocked at the force the black tom had in one shove. She held her chest with one paw and looked at the clouded skies. For a moment, she thought she saw a glimmer of a lone star.


	17. Chapter 15

"We finally made it!"

Dawnpaw's cheer gave everyone a skip in their step. The exit of the tunnels laid straight ahead of Okani. She looked back to see that everyone was speeding up to get some fresh air and sunlight, for the sun was starting to rise. Okani let everyone pass her.

Jax and Cinsen, of course, were the first to exit the tunnel and jump into the small grains of dirt. The exit of the tunnels led them straight to the sun-drown place, which made for a great place to relax after so much travel during the night. They found a nice patch of grass sticking out of the sand and made a small nest.

Lionblaze, Squirrelflight, and Dovewing were not as much excited as the others, but were relieved to find a place to relax in peace again without the disturbing odor of the sewers. Squirrelflight laid down in a nicely mended group of sand and curled up for a quick rest. Dovewing became trance as he entered that state of his powers again. Lionblaze stayed at the edge of the tunnel waiting for Echopaw and the others.

Isle and Thor were the next to jump into the sand. Isle noticed how cool the sand felt on her paws and fur. She smiled and started to roll around in it. "I've never been to this place before! The ground is so cool and soft!" Thor rolled his eyes and joined the others in finding a place to sleep.

Okani and Echopaw joined up with Lionblaze at the exit. The smell had completely change to a brisk, pure scent and a hint of water in it's windy blow. The sky began to brighten with the sun rising behind the tall twoleg dens. Echopaw felt the sand beneath his paws and was amazed. It was cool and soft. He had also never been to the sun-drown place in his life. He had heard tales of it, but his twolegs didn't ever take him on a trip to this place. Echopaw could see how a cat could sleep for days in this environment.

Okani interrupted Echopaw's moment of bliss. "Echopaw, before we rest, I must tell you that we need to get to my leader before sundown today. He doesn't like visitors during the night. We may take a short rest here, but we must be leaving soon."

Lionblaze looked at the resting cats. "Give it until the sun has risen above the twoleg dens. Then we will leave."

Echopaw nodded at Lionblaze's suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Echopaw felt his legs start to give way. He felt like a nice rest would do him some good. He had been up all night walking through disgusting sewers. The calm wind blowing from the ocean felt nice on his sleek pelt as he laid to sleep near a rock in a clump of thin grass. He snuggled his way deeper into the sand, falling to sleep like a kitten with his mother.

"Little one... open your eyes." A soothing voice called to Echopaw.

Echopaw did as the voice told and opened his eyes to see a strange garden. He was laying on flat stones on a pathway that led through an uncountable amount of flowers. On each side of him there was blue flowers, red flowers, bushes with tons of berries on them, trees with red fruit scattered on the branches, and twoleg wooden gates that spanned the whole path. Above, the clouds were a pure white, something he hadn't seen in days, and they dotted the blue sky. No sounds except Echopaw's breathing disturbed this wonderful place.

Echopaw sat up when he realized... Where's the beach? He twisted around, searching for how he got here, but all he could see was plants. He started to run down the pathway and look around for some kind of exit, but there was none. He ran and ran for what seemed like a day before he realized this path went on forever and ever without any end in sight. He wore himself down until he layed back down on the flat rocks. They were cold, but it felt like they were concealing warmth beneath the surface. It felt strange to Echopaw.

"My, what spirit you have inside of you." The voice rang through Echopaw's mind once more. Echopaw turned to face the voice's owner, but he couldn't tell the direction it came from with it buzzing through his ears. "Do not worry, young leader, you will see me when the time comes, but for now you cannot see my physical form. I can give you somewhat of one, though."

A figure appeared far away off the path in an opening of flowers. It wasn't clear, but telling by the voice, Echopaw could identify it was a she-cat. The image still blurred, the she-cat spoke again. "Don't you like my wonderful garden. This is my favorite spot to talk to cats like you."

"Wait, who are you? And... how do you know I'm a leader?" Echopaw shouted loud so the figure could hear him.

"I am someone who will guide you through the twolegplace when seeking guidance. Your warriors aren't the only ones who can."

Echopaw flinched. How did she know all of this?

"Echopaw, are you looking for someone?"

The comment struck his fur with the chilling wind he felt before, but this time it wasn't as cold as it was. It still chilled his bones, but it didn't make him stagger. The voice from before the visions... this was her?

"I can see what affect the encounter with the visions is having on you. Tell me... what do you fear?" The she-cat's voice was now tuned to feel sympathy.

"I... I fear nothing." No sense in him losing his reputation still.

"Oh really. Then why do you shiver?"

Echopaw could feel his body start to twitch with the wind. It started to gradually turn into a ferocious swirl around him. Before it could form into something worse, he answered, "I am afraid! I'm afraid of the wind!"

"The wind? From the third vision? I am sorry to bring this pain upon you."

The wind started to die down. Echopaw felt relieved to finally get that off his chest. "I'm afraid of what the vision might do if it comes true."

The voice went silent. It wasn't until Echopaw sat up that she continued. "Hasn't anyone told you visions aren't fully true? Visions are just guide to show you what might happen if you continue down the path laid out in front of you. Take my garden for example. Do you see what you almost ran into?" The she-cat's blur of a form pointed toward the way Echopaw was running.

He looked and saw nothing. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"You are seeing what you want to see for a life, but if you focus more," She pointed her paw again, "It will reveal this path to be a trap."

Suddenly, a twoleg hunter's strange metal claw appeared in front of him. He had seen those things before. If something stepped on it, it would clasp their foot and severe it. Echopaw backed away from it.

"Now believe me, this does not mean to change your whole life, no, but to take certain turns to avoid these traps. I will tell you that your destiny IS to become leader of a clan, but be careful where you step, for it might be your last."

Echopaw couldn't hold it in any longer. "Are you a clan cat!?"

The figure looked astonished. The time it took for her to respond was agonizing for Echopaw. This feeling inside Echopaw saw this place to be nothing but a fantasy... A dream. He was still on the beach, but either this was all his imagination, or this cat had summoned him here. The she-cat stuttered her words out. "W-will me not being a c-clan cat change anything? Will you still hear my wisdom and put it to practice?"

"That depends. Are you the one who sent the visions? Are you the one that ruined my life forever?"

"Echopaw!" Her voice wasn't smooth anymore. "Our visions didn't ruin your life. Don't you understand? They saved your life!" She looked for the words. "If we hadn't shown you how to focus and see what trap laid ahead and how to avoid it, you would have fallen right into it and killed yourself." Her voice began to ripple the dream. "Follow the first vision, be wary of the second, but beware the third, for it will be fatal to fall into. Heed my words, Echopaw... If you do not sense the traps that lay ahead, you will fall into them and not just cause disaster for you, but for the clan you were sent to create, guide, and protect."

Immediately after the last word, the figure faded into the garden of flowers again. The dream started to collapse, but before Echopaw felt like waking up, he saw something appear above the twoleg trap in front of him.

It expanded and showed a shadow of a dark tabby tom in the sewers. It stared at another ginger she-cat next to him. The tom yelled, "Your usefulness has drawn thin. With our brother dead, so shall you share the same fate." The tom slashed the she-cat's neck and chest, spilling blood into the air as she fell to the ground... lifeless.

Echopaw felt the vision fade into the blackness of the dream in horror. That she-cat... The dream swallowed the vision into it's swirling gaze. That she-cat was Gingerpaw.

Echopaw woke up startled with what he just witnessed. The other cats weren't awake except for Lionblaze. Echopaw felt slowed as he got up and stretched quickly. Like lightning, he bounded toward Lionblaze. "Lionblaze! Is Dovewing awake?"

Lionblaze saw Echopaw was scared. "Yes, he's right over there." Lionblaze pointed his tail in the direction of the water's edge, where Dovewing was looking at the shining sun-drown sea.

Echopaw spared no time to hurry to her side. "Dovewing, can you search for Gingerpaw again?"

Dovewing sensed his fear as well. "Echopaw, for what reason?"

"I think she might be dead." Echopaw's eyes were stretched wide with worry.

"Dead!?" Dovewing immediately began to delve into her trance. Her body shook with wear.

Echopaw was now jittered with fright. That dream wasn't just his imagination. He could feel it now. The she-cat was the voice he heard when he first received the visions back at the barn, and it seemed she knew everything there was to Echopaw's life. If that were true, the visions he received would come true if he didn't do anything about it.

But the she-cat also said to make the first vision come true. For what reason should the first come true? The first was the blank room with the red light in the darkness. What purpose will that serve?

"I found her Echopaw." Dovewing's voice was like a call from StarClan to Echopaw. Dovewing opened her eyes and looked at him. "She's alive, but it sounds like there's trouble ahead."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's being guarded by the loners again, but I heard them talking about sending her into the sewers." Dovewing glimpsed at the entrance to the sewers. "Echopaw, if she goes in there, I won't be able to see her."

"Then we need to go back in!" Echopaw attracted the attention of Okani. She had just woken up, but she walked toward them after hearing Echopaw's comment.

Okani stared at Echopaw scornfully. "Echopaw, what do you mean?"

"We need to save Gingerpaw. She's our friend!"

Okani retorted. "No, we can't go back in. Koul allowed us to pass though, but if the Poisons see us again so soon, they might suspect a takeover."

Echopaw raised his voice. "We can't let Gingerpaw into the sewers!"

Dovewing interrupted, "Why? All it will do is make her invisible to me. I will still be able to hear her. Trust me, she's a talker. If anything goes wrong, I'll hear them."

Echopaw recovered the reality of the vision. "I had a dream that she died in the paws of a cat in the sewers."

Okani sighed and rolled her eyes. "It was just a dream! Calm down and realize that we need to finish the mission first. Your friend will be fine."

"I-... I-..." Echopaw looked at Okani's disbelieving eyes. He felt himself slip back into his calm self again. "Alright."

It wasn't alright. Was this mission the path he should follow, or should they rescue Gingerpaw? What if traveling back into the sewers would cause Gingerpaw's death? The visions had become too overwhelming for Echopaw to understand what to do with it. He did know one thing though... He held the clan on his back, and now, the decisions he would make would decide it's fate. Echopaw felt helpless. He felt abandoned. He felt alone.

"Let me out already!" The cage rattled as the ginger she-cat inside bashed against the sides. The cats outside of the cage laughed. They were pushing the cage into a path in between two twoleg dens. In the shade of the dens, three figures appeared.

"Is this the cat?" One figure stepped closer.

"Yep, now you know what the deal was right? Where is our cat?" The brown tom asked. The item on his neck swung just beyond the ginger she-cat's reach.

Another figure stepped forward to the group of cats. "There has been a slight change in plans."

Suddenly, ten figures appeared in the shade and lept onto the group of cats. Each cat was trampled by the mass of figures and began to get mauled, along with the cats guarding the cage. The she-cat inside watched her captors get ripped to shreds by the demonic figures.

The figures, now in the moons shine, revealed themselves to be cats. Their pelts were ruffles and torn, but they fought savagely with the other cats. The tom that had approached them first revealed his glimmering blue pelt. "Hurry and grab the she-cat."

Two cats grabbed the she-cat's cage and dragged it into the darkness of the alley. Her eyes glittered with sorrow. "Help! Please don't hurt me!"

The blue tom smiled seductively. "Why, we would never hurt you my dear. You have become a great asset to us now. Comply with our commands, and everything will be just fine."

The she-cat watched as the tom walked to her previous, now dead, captor with the item around his neck.. The tom snatched it off and walked back to her cage. With the object, he put it into a hole on the cage and twisted it with his jaws. Instantly, the cage opened, but before the apprentice could escape, two cats gripped her neck and pulled her back into the alley.

She continued her hopeless plea for help. After a few more steps, she was roughly pulled into a large hole in the ground and down into a tunnel.

The blue tom smiled. "Welcome to the sewers, clan cat."


	18. Chapter 16

"Are you okay? You still look tired." Dawnpaw came up beside Echopaw. She seemed to be in a better mood than before, but worried for him just the same.

The group was now walking through the sand of the beach to find a way up the cliff. Lionblaze was talking with Dovewing, probably about how Jayfeather would help a lot right now again. Isle and most of the Twoleg cats were with Squirrelflight again, listening to her stories. Even Cinsen and Jax forced themselves to be entertained by her experiences. Thor was up with Okani, though, being silent as ever. Echopaw was clumsily slipping in the sand constantly because he couldn't focus on where he was walking. His mind was still holding that dream in his heart, making it ache every time he thought of Gingerpaw. He held her life in his paws.

Dawnpaw's eyes narrowed to look into his. "Echopaw... No." She realized my familiar expression. "You had another vision didn't you?! Was it from StarClan this time?"

"No Dawnpaw. It wasn't. It was from the same cat as last time." His heart ached again. "She showed me a vision of Gingerpaw's death."

Instantly, Dawnpaw's eyes went dark. "No... She couldn't be dead!"

"She isn't." Echopaw tried to calm her before she got to sad. "She's alive, but my vision tells me how she will die if I don't do something about it."

Dawnpaw felt the force of the weight on his back. "Oh my. We need to go save her then. Now. Before she dies."

Echopaw didn't know how to respond. Without thinking, he repeated Okani's words. "We must finish the mission first."

"How could you think that way!?" She became wrapped in the coldness of her eyes. "She's my mother!"

"I know, but we don't have much of a choice right now. We could barely hold off the Poisons before. What makes you think we can beat them this time?"

"What do you mean? What does saving my mother have to do with the Poisons?"

Echopaw looked at the Twoleg cats behind him. "I saw Gingerpaw die in the sewers. And something told me that it would be awhile before it happened, so I just thought that maybe that wasn't the right decision to make yet."

Dawnpaw was without words. She began to run ahead with Lionblaze and Dovewing. Her pawsteps were hard and stomping, full of frustration and dying love. Echopaw felt his heart sink.

What would he tell Crowpaw if he made the mistake of knowing Gingerpaw would die and do nothing about it? Echopaw felt truly isolated from the rest of the cats.

No! Echopaw began to get angry. It's all that mouse-brained she-cat's fault. She had to send him those visions and turn his life into turmoil between every step and turn he takes. Why couldn't she just have minded her own business in the first place? What makes her think she can just send visions and expect the cat to know what to do? Even more important, why him? Why not send another cat the visions? Like Dawnpaw or some other cat in the twolegplace.

Before he realized it, he had split away from the group and started to walk next to the wall of the cliff. He looked up to see the towering rocks above, created by the splashing water of the ocean. The other cats watched as he stopped and touched the surface of the stones. He felt the moss and small bumps on the gigantic rock. It took a yell from Dovewing to wake him up and show him that he had fallen behind the group.

Except the yell wasn't for him to catch up.

"Echopaw! Behind you!"

Echopaw twisted his head to see two huge twolegs. They wore white pelts with two black hind paws and the other two behind their backs. They had brown and black hair on the tops of their heads and wore some kind of Twoleg lenses in front of their faces. They smiled as they revealed a bag behind their backs. Echopaw didn't have any time to run before they had the bag over his head and body, trapping him. He cried out for help, but his voice was muffled in the bags walls.

He could hear his clanmates run after the twolegs, but he didn't hear anything from the Twoleg cats. Typical kittypets, trusting these twolegs for some crazy reason. StoneClan, however, wasn't going to let their leader get stolen.

Echopaw felt the twoleg carrying him run really fast away from the raging cats. Really fast. Echopaw bounced and tumbled in the bag while the twolegs paid no attention to what he was going through. All they cared about was running from the warriors.

It was hopeless. The twolegs were just too fast. Echopaw listened as his friends voices faded away. He tried to yell through the bags walls again. "Lionblaze! Dovewing! Squirrelflight! Dawnpaw!" Nothing go through, or so he thought. He let himself slide back into a position where he was the most comfortable he could get. The twolegs had succeeded in capturing him, but for what reason? What would Twolegs want with a strange cat like me?

This would have been a better vision to receive from that she-cat.

The world around Echopaw was black inside the bag. He could breathe easily and stretch after the twolegs had finally stopped running. Echopaw would have tried to claw out if he didn't already know it was helpless. His twoleg captors were faster than Lionblaze, so he knew if he would somehow escape, they would just catch him again. Echopaw couldn't understand one thing though.

Why? Is it just the twolegs' curiosity to catch him? What reason would they want him? Even worse, what were they going to do to him? He had seen twolegs that looked like these ones before... But from where...

His old Twoleg den. Now he remembers. A strange twoleg in a white coat came over one time to look at him and his mother. He checked our pelts and put some kind of needle in his side. He still couldn't figure out why, but he knew that it helped him from not getting sick for moons. Did these twolegs want to do the same thing to him and then let him go?

No, he had to expect the worst. They were going to keep him trapped until he died, or even do tests and look at him his whole life without ever seeing the sun again. He just had to believe that was his fate for now and find a way to get back to his clan as soon as possible.

Echopaw heard something open and the twolegs step toward it. Echopaw could feel the temperature change dramatically cooler. It made him shiver for a second and readjust. He had felt this kind of air before. He was inside a twoleg den.

He then heard the twolegs talk their strange language. They seemed to be asking each other questions. He only hoped that they would set him down for one second and leave so he could break free of the bag.

With luck, that's exactly what they did. It took a few more door openings and closings, but the twoleg holding the bag finally set him down on the ground and whispered something in his ear he couldn't understand, but felt reassuring. The twoleg steps got quieter and quieter until Echopaw heard a door open and close again.

He immediately began to claw at the wall of the bag and feel it start to tear. He ripped apart the small hole he made first, then tried to create another hole with his hind legs. The bag started to reveal a silver wall of a room. Echopaw continued to cut the bag while he surveyed his surroundings. The walls were made of the silver, hard stuff Echopaw had heard was called "metal" from Okani, and there were no windows... Oh... No...

He was finally free to see his worst nightmare, literally. Blank room, no windows, no light except from the cracks of the door that light shone through. The room was lit from it except for a corner of the room which revealed a small red light. It seemed to pierce his skin with it's foreboding glow. Echopaw felt his legs crumble under the cold wind that ran through his body.

"Follow the first vision..." The she-cat's words reminded him that this vision was okay to encounter. He suddenly felt the wind leave his body with his new-found relief. He stood and unsheathed his claws and heard whispering voices in the darkness.

The light moved to the left a bit and a single voice echoed through the room. "Well it looks like a strange cat to me. What's your name, huh?"

The only thing different about the vision and what he was doing now was that he replied immediately without pausing. "Echopaw."

"You're a clan cat..." The voice rasped and became quiet. Echopaw expected the room to disappear like in his dream, but it didn't. This was reality. The voice returned with a cheer in it. "Silas actually did it!"

He knows Silas?! How? Who... or what was this thing? "Who are you!?"

The light got dimmer as it got closer. A figure stepped out of the darkness.

Echopaw couldn't believe what he saw next. It was a cat alright, but not an ordinary cat. It was a big old tom with white sleek fur, strong looking legs, a long tail, and a very broad face. He had a scar across the side of his right cheek, but that wasn't what was frightening about him. A shiny, silver piece of metal covered one of his eyes and ears on the left side of his face. They were replaced with a triangular makeshift ear and a red light for an eye. Echopaw also realized the tom's right front foot was made of the metal too. It looked like a foot and paw, but was covered with metal. Echopaw's first reaction was to run, but he realized that the door was closed and he didn't know how to open one. The tom just got closer. Oddly, he smiled welcomingly.

"You are a clan cat, right?" The tom stopped a fox-length away. Echopaw noticed another tom come out of the darkness who had reddish brown fur, a lithe body, and a small nick on his ear. He also had a metal claw and foot, but had a metal tail. It flicked with uncertainty.

Echopaw forced an answer out of himself. "Y-yes."

"Silas actually persuaded such honorable cats to come to me. Oh my, I must reward him and his helpers now, but with what?" The tom looked away and pondered. The other brown tom coughed to signal the white tom that he had drifted away from the conversation. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry little one. My manners aren't what they used to be. Echopaw, I am Glaive, or as others may nickname me Mecha. But I prefer Glaive." The brown tom coughed again. Glaive reassembled himself. "Okay, I'll get to the point. I am the leader of the Upwalker cats."

This was the leader? This was Silas' master? Echopaw stuttered his words out. "You a-are the leader of the T-twoleg cats?!"

"Yes... Isn't that what I just said?" He looked at his partner. The brown tom nodded. Glaive turned back to Echopaw. "Yes. And you must be the cat I sent Silas to get for me. I hear you are trying to start a clan. What was it... StoneClan?"

How did he... "Yes, I'm to become leader soon."

"Ooo, very good. I congratulate your success in having the courage to do so." Glaive seemed nice under that cold shell... literally. "Soo... oh, have you met my friend Wekk here?"

The brown tom stepped forward and bowed to Echopaw. "I am Glaive's helper and protector. It is nice to meet a cat that my master appeals to so greatly."

Echopaw felt more comfortable knowing these cats might not hurt him. "I don't get it... Why did those twolegs lock me up in here with you two? Are you captives as well?"

Glaive smiled and laughed to himself. "Oh no, Echopaw. You don't understand. I am leader of all Upwalkers cats. It seems fit that the leader has Upwalkers as well."

"Really?" Echopaw still didn't get how these two could actually like these kind of twolegs. They're the ones most cats refer to as Cutters. Or were they? "How can I get out of here?"

"Why would you want to leave so soon? We haven't even discussed our terms of alliance. Didn't Silas tell you that?"

Echopaw remembered. He was just in shock, so it wouldn't be peculiar that he would forget. "Yeah, he did. It's just... I don't like discussing things in a twoleg den."

Glaive recoiled in the way Silas did when he thought he was doing something wrong. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. I forget that clan cats hate twoleg dens." He turned to Wekk. "Open the secret passage way. I'll tell the twolegs where we'll be." Wekk walked to the other end of the room and started to examine the walls. Glaive strutted to the door.

"Wait, what?" Echopaw couldn't believe what Glaive said. He could talk to Twolegs?! "You can talk to Twolegs!?"

Glaive smiled cheerfully. "Oh, I wish. I can understand them though, with this." He pointed to his mechanical ear. "See, my twolegs aren't the normal vet upwalkers. No, they're finding all the information they can on cats and finding ways to communicate with us. It's very amazing what they have done, but they are having difficulty right now, so they are taking a break and fixing cats when they are injured." Glaive jumped up and grabbed hold of the handle on the door. It pulled downwards and opened the door to reveal the two male twolegs sitting at a table eating. They turned to see Glaive and stopped eating to approach Glaive.

These twolegs sound and now looked... absolutely friendly. Echopaw couldn't really believe what he was hearing, but Glaive sounded very convincing and happy. No wonder he's the twoleg leader. After the Twolegs started talking their weird language, Glaive would either nod or shake his head representing "yes" and "no" to the twolegs. It took a few minutes before they could finish talking. The twolegs finally nodded and returned to their meal.

Glaive came back into the room and passed by Echopaw to get to Wekk, who had in some way found what he was looking for. "Echopaw, come with me and we'll talk more about myself and our future agreement of friendship."

When Glaive was facing the part of the wall where Wekk identified it, his left red eye began to glowed and beam the color onto it. A small part of the wall magically opened up and revealed a tunnel. Echopaw was not sure he was even in reality now. Echopaw bit himself softly just to see if it was a dream, but it wasn't. Echopaw had actually found the Twoleg cat leader, who was part metal and could understand twolegs. It was absolutely astounding.

Wekk ventured into the descending tunnel first. Glaive looked at Echopaw with his inviting smile and motioned his tail for him to follow. Echopaw walked behind Glaive, ready to start asking plenty of questions.


	19. Chapter 17

"Glaive, you probably know that I have a lot of questions, right?"

The tunnel seemed vast, but it wasn't. The walls and ceiling were about four tail-lengths across from each other and from the ground. Wood was the walls until they went deeper and changed to plain dirt. Wekk was ahead of Echopaw and Glaive as they talked with each other. Glaive and Wekk's metal feet stomped heavily and vibrated the ground. The acrid smell of the tunnel plugged Echopaw's nose. The only lights that lit up the tunnel was strange fires on the walls held by wood.

Glaive faced Echopaw, still walking. "I know. Plenty of my new messengers started with that phrase when they first met me too."

"First, why did the Twolegs capture me? My group and I could have done just fine finding your den."

Glaive rolled his eyes. "My owners? Hey, blame them on that one. Sometimes they don't do exactly what I want. They listen to me well though. Through various questions, I got to tell them to look out for a group of wild cats and bring them here. You can understand how they misunderstood that one."

"Well, can we get to my clan soon? I want them to know I'm okay." Echopaw worried about Dawnpaw. She had left him alone to get captured just like her mother. Who knows what she might do to herself if he didn't find her quickly.

"No worries, if Silas is leading the group, then they should meet us up ahead."

Echopaw sighed. "He isn't. Okani is."

"Hmm." The smile disappeared as swiftly as it came. "Okani should know too. Should know too much."

"What do you mean?"

Glaive closed his eyes and wave his tail. "Nothing to worry about I hope. She just seems a bit odd to me. Silent, obedient... Smart... Stealthy..." Glaive continued to describe her, lowering his voice with every word until he realized he was drifting away from the conversation. "There's an opening up ahead that leads to a cave on the beach. Okani would have led your clan there if they have listened to her."

Echopaw noticed Glaive's reaction to Okani and changed the subject. "What do you do? You know, to help the Twoleg cats."

"There's actually a simple explanation to that." Glaive paused. "I promise the cats safety if they follow my lead. And by following my lead, I mean work together under my lead. See, us cats, or what you call Twoleg cats, don't really get along with each other very well. They are very territorial with their owners' dens. When I tell them that they can get protection by following my lead together, I don't need to help them anymore. They can support each other. Smart, huh?"

Echopaw thought it was brilliant, but cowardly at the same time. "So you can't actually help the cats at all except with words? That's a horrible way to lead."

Glaive was astonished. "Don't question my methods! Anyways, that's not the only thing I do." Glaive pointed his nose at Wekk. "Cats are injured every day, by Upwalkers or by other cats. I fix them."

"You what?"

Glaive began to smirk and chuckled at his curiosity. "A very unique talent of mine is to detect broken bones and injuries on cats. Let me tell you, they get severed by those monsters or by those killer cats almost everyday, but what I do is give them a chance to live. Actually, WE give them a chance to live. Nothing could be done without my upwalkers intelligence and skill.

"What I do is find the source of the injury on a cat and first ask the cat 'do you want to live?' Then, if they answer yes, I let my owners use their metal tools to make new bones and body parts, like these." Glaive touched his metal side of his face. "My past is one to remember. It feels like only yesterday that those upwalkers gave me this thing.

"After the procedure is done, they either have metal body parts like these, or metal-like stuff to fix their bones inside of them. They are given one last day to go back to their homes and say goodbye to their owners and friends, then I send them off."

Echopaw stopped. "So they can't live the same life ever again?"

"Of course not. Do you know what could happen if one of those cats were captured by the other groups here? They'd try to kill them again, making the pain they had to go through to live again useless." Glaive halted and turned to Echopaw. "I send them to a place where cats can live happily with special upwalkers that treat the cats like royalty even though they look disfigured... like me... like me..." He became distracted again.

Echopaw thought if what Glaive did was wrong or not. Sure they might get one day to say their goodbyes, but would that really be a good decision? He thought of the question and put it simply, would you rather die, or live but never live the same? He guessed that Glaive's actions weren't too bad. Echopaw saw Wekk far ahead of Glaive and him and continued to walk, catching Glaive's attention again.

"Echopaw, trust me, I believe cats and owners can one day live in peace with each other and communicate with each other. If my owners finish their research, it would become a reality that we could reach. Even for a clan cat," Glaive heaved a heavy sigh, "You have to trust my methods and ways... right?"

Echopaw didn't know how to answer. "I don't agree with your ways, but I don't disagree with them either." He didn't want to talk about this anymore. "Let's move onto a different subject, please?"

"Okay." Glaive looked relieved. "How about you? What are your goals?"

"StoneClan was formed under the guidance of StarClan. I was chosen out of the many cats of the twolegplace to lead StoneClan to weaken BloodClan's efforts to seek revenge on the forest clans." Echopaw said it with great confidence in his voice.

Glaive was impressed, but also worried. "You... face BloodClan... and expect to win? H-how?"

"Our plan is to invite cats to join StoneClan to train as apprentices. After a few moons, they will hopefully become trained warriors and be strong enough to beat three BloodClan cats each, or what I hope for them to be able to do. We have only just started StoneClan and haven't gathered any members yet."

Glaive sensed the bright future Echopaw had in his heart. "You seem to be going the right way and doing the right things. Tell me what convinced you to accept my offer."

"I was hoping to get some help tracking BloodClan. They are on the move, I know it, and we don't want them to leave the twolegplace anytime soon so-"

"Tell me the real reason." Glaive saw through his half-lie.

"We were hoping to find cats in your group to join StoneClan." Echopaw tried to be as humble as he could.

Glaive frowned at him for a second, then looked away to mask his first thought to Echopaw's response. "I don't care at all if you take a few. Some cats need a toughening up. Maybe you can teach them some proper manners and honor."

Echopaw happily nodded. He was glad that Glaive didn't take it too harsh.

He then realized something. Glaive already knew his clans name before he approached him earlier. "Glaive, who told you about me? Tell me the truth. I know it wasn't Okani or Silas, so who?"

Glaive kept his eyes on the path in front of him. "During the moon-full, sometimes midnight gives me guidance and wisdom to lead cats. My destiny is to create peace in the twolegplace once more, to how it used to be before BloodClan and the Loners started to group together under corrupted leaderships."

"Midnight? How can a time give you advice? Do you know StarClan?"

"No, I do not believe in your religions and rituals, but I do believe in destiny and prophecies. Along with midnight, the twins gave me guidance. Told me what not to do with their visions."

Echopaw instantly froze. "Twins?" Could they be the ones that gave him the visions too? But Echopaw only saw one cat in his dream.

"Our visions didn't ruin your life. Don't you understand? They saved your life!"

Echopaw remembered what the she-cat said. OUR visions... There were two of them! But who was the second?

Echopaw caught up to Glaive and asked, "Glaive, the twins gave me visions too! I need your help with them." If Glaive could understand them, why couldn't he teach him how?

Glaive, sadly, shook his head. "If it is true that the twins gave you visions too, I cannot help you."

Echopaw was shocked.

"See, everyone's visions are a bit different. I won't be able to help you with them because only you can make sense of them in your mind. It's like a code. Only you know how to break it." Glaive gritted his teeth. "Another reason why is because I don't know which twin gave you the vision. The bad twin's visions are a bit more difficult to understand."

"Bad twin? That doesn't sound very good."

"True. I have met the bad twin face to face, and let me be the first to tell you," Glaive stared at Echopaw hard, "He is someone you don't want to cross without the good twin nearby. He would kill you if he could."

"He can't? Is it because of some tradition or rule he has to follow?"

"Exactly. You were given a vision that he and his sister had to work together to create. He wouldn't kill someone he worked so hard on to lead."

Brother and sister that looked exactly the same? That didn't make sense. But he now knew one thing. "I was talking to the good twin. The she-cat."

Glaive's legs began to look weak. "Oh, I would give anything for that cute, charming... smart... pure... absolutely heartwarming..." Glaive seemed to have a habit of this.

Echopaw snapped him out of it again. "So, you can't help me with them? Do you know how I could contact them again without another vision just to talk?"

Glaive watched on of the fires they passed by. "No, not really. I don't know exactly where they live, but Silas or Okani may know. They live close to the twins."

Echopaw remembered something Silas said. "I also recommend you visit the Tenkai Twins. They have been expecting a cat from a strange land with smoky gray fur."

Echopaw knew where he was going after all of this was over. "I'll be sure to ask them to take me to the twins. I need to have a long talk with them."

"Be careful." Glaive laughed. "The bad twin doesn't like young cats like you taking so much pride to heart."

Echopaw became a bit shy after Glaive's comment.

It only took a few more minutes of idle chatter and walking for them to see a light up ahead. The fires on the wood started to flicker with a warm wind blowing through the tunnel now as they approached the ocean. Wekk still kept tail-lengths ahead of Echopaw and Glaive to scope out the cave they were going to enter. Glaive started to slow down.

He grinned. "It's been a nice talk Echopaw, but as soon as we enter the cave, it will be the time to announce our alliance with each other."

Echopaw thought of the benefits this would give them. If Glaive would order every Twoleg cat in the twolegplace to treat them with respect and to not assault StoneClan, that would get rid of over a third of the danger in the twolegplace. And, maybe they could help them when they fought against BloodClan. Echopaw smiled.

Wekk yelled from the cave back into the tunnel. "Glaive, Okani and the other cats are here."

Echopaw smiled and dashed like a rabbit to the cave. The fires he passed by went out by the momentum of his speed. Soon, he was able to see the outlines of cats against the light from the exit of the cave.

"Echopaw!" Dawnpaw was the first to see him and shout his name. She ran quickly to greet me. When they got to each other, Dawnpaw rubbed his cheek to his. "I'm so glad you aren't hurt! I don't know what I would have done if anything happened to you."

"Thanks Dawnpaw."

Dovewing came up behind Dawnpaw. "I saw you enter the twoleg den, but I couldn't see inside for some reason. I was so worried that you'd ended up killed!"

Lionblaze sat next to Dovewing. "Okani told us to follow her, but at first I absolutely disagreed. I'm so glad Squirrelflight persuaded me to listen."

Squirrelflight was chatting with Isle when she heard her name. "I told you that these cats were trustworthy. They knew what they were supposed to do when things like this happened."

Wekk was in the shadows, probably wanting to hide his metal claw and tail, but Glaive refused to be looked upon that way and strutted out of the tunnel and into the cave in the clear light. His metal eyes glowed for a few seconds and landed his gaze on Okani, who was approaching him.

Okani walked toward him slowly. She was a tail-length away when she stopped and sat. "Glaive."

Glaive glowered at her. "Okani."

"Silas gives his apologies. He was too injured to travel any further. We sent him back to his owners to heal."

"He could have come to my owners. They would have fixed him right up."

The scorching silence between the two were enough to start a battle, but Echopaw could tell that they were holding back.

Dawnpaw looked upon Glaive, staring at his metal claw and shimmering metal eye. Her mouth was open, but words did not come out. Instead, Lionblaze strolled to where Okani was and introduced himself. "I am Lionblaze, warrior of ThunderClan."

Glaive looked away from Okani to Lionblaze. "You are from ThunderClan. How interesting. I've heard many rumors about that clan, how almost every generation, they save all the clans in some act of heroism." Glaive smiled. "It is nice to meet a warrior from such a clan, Lionblaze. It warms this cold heart of mine to talk with a warrior from ThunderClan. I am Glaive, leader of the Upwalker cats, or Twoleg cats. Whichever one you prefer."

The warriors were surprised, and so were the Twoleg cats. The Twoleg cats have never seen their leader as well for confidential purposes except for a chosen few. Their looks were about as freaked out as Echopaw's when he first met Glaive. Dawnpaw spoke out first in the silence. "You're the kittypet leader?"

"Kittypet!" Wekk became enraged as he left the sanctity of the shade. "How dare you give such cats a weak name like that!"

"Calm down Wekk." Glaive blocked Wekk with his tail. Wekk stopped. Glaive returned his attention to Dawnpaw. "Hasn't anyone taught you manners? Kittypet sounds absolutely revolting."

Dawnpaw was ashamed. Silas had told them not to call them that, especially in front of the leader himself, except the worry wasn't the leader's opinion to the name, but the deputy's. Wekk had looked ready to attack if Glaive hadn't stopped him.

Thor was the next to say something. "So the rumors are true. You are made by the upwalkers."

"You're half right. I can explain things to you later, but right now, we have still not come to a conclusion." Glaive approached Echopaw.

Lionblaze saw what decision Echopaw still had to make. He nodded.

Echopaw looked up to Glaive's eyes and stared at him with enough determination in him that Glaive could already tell what he was about to say. Echopaw sat upright. "Glaive, leader of the Twoleg cats... Would you be so humbled in agreeing to form an alliance with StoneClan to aid in our efforts to expel BloodClan once and for all?"

Glaive breathed in heavily. He smiled. "I would be absolutely delighted to welcome this agreement and give you permission to teach some of my cats the clan ways. Let this show of cooperation bind our might together to face the threats of the twolegplace."

Isle started to cheer. "StoneClan! StoneClan!"

Soon, Jax came in, and then Thor, then Cinsen. Every Twoleg cat joined in on cheering. Dawnpaw entered the shouts, and so did everyone else. "StoneClan! StoneClan!"

Echopaw bowed to Glaive. Glaive bowed back.

The cheering died down.

"Oh thank goodness I found you!"

Koul appeared at the entrance of the cave from the beach. Everyone turned to face him and saw he was tired. Very tired. Glaive widened his eyes and walked toward Koul, pushing Wekk aside when he attempted to stop him. "Koul, what has happened?"

"Glaive, you're here?" Koul coughed, intaking a long breath of air. "No, I'm not here for you, I'm here for the clan cats."

Echopaw leaped across the ground and in front of Glaive. "What is it?"

"They... the leader of the Poisons... They have your clanmate... She's going to be killed!"

Echopaw's heart skipped a beat. Gingerpaw.


	20. Chapter 18

"Time is running out. What do you think brother? Will Echopaw listen to us?"

The white she-cat sat, staring at the sea on the roof of an abandoned twoleg den. It creaked under her weight, but she was not phased by the noises. A burly black tom with three splotched of white fur on his chest sat beside the white she-cat, focusing hard on the beach.

"I doubt he has the potential. Why do you think this cat may aid our efforts in creating peace?"

"The power I felt when I discovered him was not just any old power. No, I believe his span of wisdom and courage will even surpass Glaive. It's just logical that we should harness his efforts and use them. Why do you disagree with my thinking?"

The black tom snarled. "My sister, I don't disagree with you. I was only staying that he was an interesting cat to choose. You do know that we are losing our energy with every vision we give, and for some reason you gave him, what was it now, four?"

The white she-cat's eyes began to sparkle from the shining waters of the ocean reflecting into them. "Brother, this may be the closest chance we get to achieving our long forsaken dream. Even you, with a heart so hard, could not be upset with peace."

"Peace is a hope." The black tom stood and meandered across the roof to the other side. "Hope is a dream." He leaped down onto a ledge, descending to the ground. "A dream is not reality."

With the she-cat alone, her mind wandered to happier thoughts. With the sun starting to fall, time was beginning to become a virtue to their success. The cool breeze from the ocean was dying down as the white she-cat followed her brother's footsteps in exit. Echopaw, make my brother wrong.

"Echopaw, we need to hurry."

Dawnpaw's voice broke the silence. Koul was still standing at the entrance, exhausted and worn. Echopaw got closer to Koul.

"How do you know this?"

Koul shook his head. "The Poisons have disowned me after falsely accusing me of planning a cue. The leader was the one who blamed me, so I had no other choice but to leave." He shifted his paws uneasily. "Before I left, I saw a she-cat being thrown into the prisons. A she-cat I've been hearing about from the loners. A clan cat."

Lionblaze stepped up to Koul next. "Why come to us?"

Koul's eyes stilled. "I'm a messenger. I know that you cats only wanted to cross their territory, and by the looks of it, I was right. You were just trying to make peace." He swallowed hard. "But I know what would happen if your friend would die, and I don't want to start a war with you cats."

Echopaw narrowed his eyes. "Why is she going to be killed?"

"The leader announced that the prisoners had tainted our minds with false stories of alliances and friendship, and that all of them should be executed, including the newly captured ones."

Glaive eye shot open. "That's horrible. That wouldn't just be heartless, but cause mass confusion and death."

Dovewing turned to Glaive. "What do you mean?"

Glaive kept staring at Koul. "The Poisons are known to capture plenty of cats from every group. That's what has been stopping the other groups from attacking them. If the groups were caught in the sewers trying to attack, the Poisons would kill their friends that they had captured. Echopaw," He refocused his paralyzed eye on Echopaw, "If what Koul says is true, they are going to kill 17 cats, including your friend."

17 cats!? Echopaw couldn't believe his ears. That is heartless! They needed to stop them. "Why, still come to us? What would happen if those cats are killed?"

Koul gritted his teeth. "Like Glaive said, it would cause confusion and destruction, not only for the cats but the Poisons themselves. Without the prisoners, the Poisons are worthless and weak. They would be overthrown in a day." Koul laid down. "And that's why I think that the leader might be the one trying to destroy them. He's abandoning his own group for another one, I just know it. Maybe BloodClan or that mysterious group."

"We need to hurry! We can't let Gingerpaw die!"

Glaive held out a paw. "Wait." He pointed his red eye at the group of Twoleg cats. "I believe these cats have a choice to make. Their mission is over, but some might want to help you."

The Twoleg cats stood against the wall, looking at each other. Cinsen groaned and shouted, "What about our reward?"

Glaive held a laugh. "My, I almost forgot. My reward to you is a pile of fish and a ride back to your twolegs. Sounds good right?"

"Fish!? You gotta be kidding me." Cinsen stepped closer to Glaive, only to be blocked by Wekk.

"I think just knowing who I am now is well enough a reward, but think of this offer as an add-on. Otherwise, go with the clan cats, and I'll triple the amount of fish."

Jax closed his eyes and held his head high. "Well, I will not twiddle with these cats any longer. I'm going back to my twolegs pronto. My pelt has never been so dull and dusty."

Cinsen seemed to be controlling his anger. "I never want to see these cats again."

Isle bumped Cinsen and Jax. "How could you say that after all we've been through with them!?" She turned to Squirrelflight. "After hearing your wild stories, how can I resist not helping you guys again? I haven't even heard anything about Lionblaze yet!"

Echopaw bowed. "Thanks Isle."

Seer's silence persevered. His eyes were soft, but he kept looking from one group to the other. Jax and Cinsen stared at him roughly. Seer focused hard and finally decided. He walked next to Isle, ready to travel once more into the sewers.

Thor watched as Seer casually sat with the clan cats. "I... Echopaw, I'm sorry, but my twolegs are very timid and easily upset. If I don't return to them soon, they might get worried. I hope that this doesn't change anything between us."

"No problem. I know how it feels when someone depends and cares about you."

Glaive nodded. "And Okani, I want you to go with them. This is not a suggestion, this is an order as your leader. Lead them to the Poisons lair and to the prisoners. If the plan to rescue their friend collapses, you can leave, but this is where I prefer you don't."

Okani looked away.

Lionblaze walked to the entrance. "Let's go! The sun is starting to set. The lights in the sewers should be turned on as soon as we get there. Koul, how long do we have?"

Koul refocused. "Yes, the executions should start around morning tomorrow, before they go to sleep."

Echopaw rushed into the sand on the beach first, everyone including Isle, Seer and Okani at his heels as Koul, the Twoleg cats, and Glaive returned to the tunnels. Before they were out of earshot, Glaive yelled, "Good luck to you! Put the Poisons in their place."

They flew over the sand with lightning fast speed. The wind from the ocean was blowing against them, the waves crashing against the scattered rocks on the beach. The time was ticking.

"Poisons!" The huge blue tom stood on top of a raised stone block. Cats of all kinds were sitting in a large group, watching and listening to their leader. "The time has almost come to rid our society of these evil cats of the twolegplace. If any disagree with this decision, leave now or face the consequences."

The number of cats had already diminished after Koul had left, but at least 30 cats still obeyed the leader's instructions. All of the quietly sat, without disagreement of any kind.

"We will also send a message to those mouse-dung clan cats with our newest prisoner. With her death, the clan cats will be too afraid to ever step in our territory again."

"YAAAA!" All the cats yelled in excitement.

"The Loners will lose motivation after we have killed their important general and fall apart, leaving us as the dominant Loner group!"

"YAAAA!" More and more cats got louder, shouting vigorously.

"BloodClan will quake in fear as we kill over 6 of their members, including their strong fighter, giving us the opportunity to destroy them once and for all!"

"YAAAA!"

The yells echoed through the whole of the sewers, reaching every inch of their territory with their intimidating shouts. Through one of the tunnels, a group of cats were hiding in the darkness. Eyes peered into the shadows toward the Poisons lair. Filled with anger, they waited for the right opportunity to strike.

At the head of the small band of cats, a dark tabby raised an eyebrow to the new sounds of the Poisons cheers. He laughed in amusement. "Oh, these cats are in over their heads. Lose motivation because our brother will be killed... No." He turned to his group of cats. "No, our brother's death shall twist and break our hearts, but our wretched souls will still live out to seek revenge!"

The cats following him chuckled.

"Crush the Poisons."

"We'll rip them to shreds."

"Let the age of the Broken Hearts reign."

The clan cats did not flinch as they jumped into the sewers. The sun was starting to touch the water's surface as the last cat leapt into the tunnels. With Okani at the lead, StoneClan and the Twoleg cats would work together to save Gingerpaw.

The darkness still loomed through the tunnels, indicating they had enough time to get to the center of the sewers in time.

Echopaw started to explain the plan. "Surely, the Poisons should be starting their patrols by now. If we do encounter one, we must split up. One group will handle the patrol while the others rush to the hideout and free the cats before the patrol is able to get back."

Okani looked back at him. "Echopaw, Poisons are the suppliers of 'cages.' These cages are secure and have strange holes in each of them that only one object can open. A key, if you will. It's not going to be as easy as just getting them out."

Echopaw remembered the prison Dovewing described when she first tracked Gingerpaw. A key? Who would have the key? The leader? "How are we supposed to rescue Gingerpaw then?"

Seer ran ahead and stared at me with one eye. It was filled with bravery and courage. Suddenly, Echopaw heard a voice in his head. "My friend... he help us... he in Poisons."

Echopaw shook his head in confusion. What was that voice? Seer's? How did he... Koul's words, "He didn't speak, but I could read it in his eyes that his friends needed help." Koul hadn't said that metaphorically. He literally meant it. Echopaw nodded his head and shouted. "We will still get into the hideout and find the prisons."

Okani glimpsed at him questionably. "Echopaw-

"I have a plan."

They were running at full speed, being very cautious not to fall into the river of mucky water. The stench lingered like it had before, but none of them were bothered. Echopaw felt the bravery rush through him as well. This was his first time rescuing someone in need. He was ready to guide others for this mission.

The lights turned on after a few hours of travel, revealing the bridges and corners and the true ickiness of the water below. They had to stop for a moment to readjust their eyes to the new light, but after a couple moments, they were back on their feet.

"Echopaw, up ahead!" Isle yelled.

A small group of cats were walking on the other side of the tunnel and noticed them. The Poisons instantly became ferocious and unsheathed their claws. Each one began to surround them.

"Isle, Squirrelflight, and Dovewing, hold these cats off while we go for their base. Dovewing, if the fight gets too intense, lead everyone out of the sewers or find us."

Dovewing nodded and stopped with the others, preparing to battle. The Poisons were dazzled by their new technique and didn't know what to do until the commander of the group shouted, "Ignore the ones running, kill these ones."

They had fallen for it. The Poisons were more mouse-brained than Echopaw had thought.

Okani led the group down the complex of tunnels ahead until they reached an intersection of various tunnels. Okani stopped them and looked past the corner swiftly.

"Okay, the base is right down this tunnel. We can't approach this way or the Poisons will see us. We need to split up again to distract them." Okani glanced from Echopaw to Lionblaze.

Echopaw answered first though. "Seer knows the rest of the way, right?"

Seer nodded.

"Then Lionblaze, Dawnpaw, and Okani, you will distract them while me and Seer find the prisons."

Okani looked stumped. "Wait, why Seer?"

"It's a part of my plan."

Okani abandoned her sense of surprise and lead Lionblaze and Dawnpaw past the corner. They sprinted across the stone floor yelling. "Hey you mouse-dung cats! Get ready to get ripped to shreds."

The group of about 7 cats, young and old, turned to Okani frightened. They had the courage knocked right out of them with the sudden assault. Lionblaze was the first to do some damage by tumbling into one cat and pushing him back into the others.

During the assault, Seer led Echopaw across the tunnel and down another tunnel that was smaller than the others. Like, way small. It had only enough space to stand up and that was pretty much it. Seer's hurried pace had slowed. Echopaw tried to rush him, but Seer crept slowly, unaffected by Echopaw's shoves.

It took a couple more shoves for Echopaw to see why Seer was slowing down. An opening up ahead had a small dim light that lit up a small room. Multiple cats' cries were vibrating off the walls, filled with agony and pain. Echopaw could barely stand the unbelievable sadness in the pleas. These cats sounded like they hadn't eaten in days. The prisoners!

Seer stepped aside as we approached the room. Echopaw saw the room's details like a horrid nightmare. The walls were plastered with green, disgusting moss that creeped down into the small river that was only about a foot across now. The ceiling was higher up again, but the room was crammed with metal cages, filled with cats of all kinds. A brown she-cat that looked starved to death, a tall and skinny black tom about to collapse from dehydration, a small orange and mottled gray kit that hadn't been raised up enough to live on water, crying for it's mother's milk. How crude could the Poisons get?!

In the middle of the room, a old tom with a brown and spotted black pelt sat facing the opposite side of the room. A small object was attached to a necklace. The key. Echopaw would have attacked the cat and taken the key if Seer hadn't walked up to the tom first.

The brown tom's ears perked. He turned around slowly to reveal his full body features. His eyes were unmoved and clouded. His body looked like the prisoners', under fed and unfit.

The brown tom spoke. "Seer, why are you here? You need to leave now. The leader might catch you."

Echopaw stepped forward. "We are releasing these cats. We cannot let them die." With that remark, the cats in the cages started to realize what was happening and watched Echopaw.

The brown tom took in a deep breath. "Young one, it cannot be done. If these cats are released, they would never make it to the surface in time. The Poisons would catch them. Now go. The ceremony starts any minute now and they will come to collect the prisoners. You cannot be seen here."

"No." Echopaw held his diligence. Seer stared at the brown tom alongside Echopaw. All the prisoners looked at the old cat with their saddened eyes too.

The brown tom held his head with one paw. "No, I can't. I would get punished to death Seer. Even though I owe you, this is too much to ask for."

Seer walked closer. He held his eye contact, silently talking to the brown tom. The tom looked at Echopaw for a second and back to Seer.

"I understand Seer. This means much to you." The tom coughed. "And I am forever shamed to watch this happen and not do anything about it. I have been thinking for a long time if I should just abandon the Poisons and go to the surface, but the dangers up there are far worse than any down here."

Echopaw spoke up next. "Don't you see, by killing these prisoners, the sewers won't be safe any more. The groups up above would dominate this place in a day."

"I know, and that is why..." The tom gripped the key and ripped it off his necklace, "I am giving this to you. Free these cats, and save the twolegplace from itself. Don't let me add this to my regrets."

Seer took the key and started to open the cages. Echopaw bowed to the brown tom. The tom bowed back as he began to walk into the tunnel they had came from.

Echopaw turned his attention back to the prisoners, collecting them into a group. The kits were organized into the center, she-cats around them, and toms on the outside. Seer had released all the prisoners, which turned out to be about 14 cats in total, but Echopaw noticed one problem. Out of the cats released, Gingerpaw wasn't any of them. Gingerpaw hadn't been in any of the cages.

Where was Gingerpaw?

A loud and deep voice boomed through the tunnels. "Let the execution begin!"


	21. Chapter 19

"Echopaw!"

Seer and Echopaw had escorted the prisoner cats out of the small tunnel and into the intersection. Okani, Dovewing, Lionblaze, Isle, Squirrelflight, and Dawnpaw met them and looked at the prisoners, realizing the same fact.

"Where's Gingerpaw?"

Echopaw sighed. "Not here."

Lionblaze shifted his paws and faced the rightmost tunnel. "Did you hear the announcement. The execution is starting, so that must mean that Gingerpaw was taken out of the prisons early."

"Either way, we need to lead these cats out of the sewers. Okani, please lead them toward our StoneClan camp so Cinderheart can help them recover when they arrive."

Okani nodded. "I hope you save your friend." She approached the group of prisoners, tilted her head, and paraded the cats down another tunnel.

"The rest of us need to think of a plan to-"

Dawnpaw sped into the tunnel. "We need to save her!"

"Dawnpaw wait!" Echopaw tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. "Let's just go get Gingerpaw."

"Echopaw," Dovewing walked closer to him. "We were able to scare off the other cats, but the massive amount of Poisons are at that ceremony. We can't take all of them."

"Then let's at least stop Dawnpaw from killing herself!" Echopaw darted down the path, chasing after Dawnpaw with everyone following behind. The racket of 'meow's and 'hiss's filled the tunnels now. The voice kept getting closer as they began to find where it was.

"First, let me introduce you to our three most valuable prisoners, who will be the first to be eliminated by my claws. Klauce, mighty warrior of BloodClan."

The sounds of boos came up next. The voices were angered and raged.

"Second is the most hated of all the Loners other than their leader. Jove, the deputy of the Broken Hearts."

Echopaw's eyes shot open. Broken Hearts... why does that seem familiar? Lionblaze ran beside Echopaw as they turned another corner.

"And finally, a new sight to discover hiding in the twolegplace. A Clan cat. Whose death shall tell the other Clan cats still lurking that the Poisons are not to be trifled with!"

Enormous howls of the Poisons once more cascaded through the tunnels. Echopaw and the others were getting closer to the ceremony. When they turned another corner, Echopaw couldn't believe what he saw.

Another group of cats that looked completely different from the Poisons were silently creeping against the wall, approaching the next turn. They were all sleek, dark furred cats that had well toned legs and curled tails. They also had another large mark on their chests in the shape of a heart, outlined with blood. Echopaw skidded to a halt, stopping everyone behind him as well. After the rest of the cats saw the new group, they backed up to hide behind the bend. Echopaw took one more glance at the new group and concealed himself with the others.

Isle cringed. "Echopaw, I know who those are. They're the Broken Hearts, and elite group of Loners who are even more deadly than the strongest of cats."

"Broken Hearts?" Echopaw understood. They were here for the same reason they were. To save their friend. "They are the only thing blocking our entrance. We need to get past them somehow."

"Who are you!?" A voice that sounded too familiar came from the Broken Hearts group. It was pointed in the other direction, but when Echopaw turned to see who the Broken Hearts spotted, he saw Dawnpaw backing away from them.

"I-I was just-"

The tom in the front, with dark tabby fur, charged at Dawnpaw. "No one shall reveal our plot."

Echopaw, absent minded, rushed toward Dawnpaw. The tom didn't notice him until Dawnpaw started to run in Echopaw's direction. He turned to Echopaw and started to run at him with claws outstretched. Echopaw crouched and readied for a leap, but the tom started to leap from side to side, throwing Echopaw's focus off. It was when the tom was a fox-length away that Echopaw tried for a slam, but missed and came crashing to the stone floor, completely exposed to attack.

However, after Dawnpaw had regrouped with Isle and the others, they all charged into the battle alongside her. Lionblaze came in with the opening of the attack, stopping the tabby tom from attacking Echopaw and leading him toward the bridge. The other Broken Hearts noticed that the fight had gotten bigger and joined in as well. Soon the battle had turned into an all-out war. Lionblaze, Squirrelflight, and Dovewing were fighting four cats fiercely, Dawnpaw and Isle were hidden out of view, but were probably fighting a couple cats, and Seer and Echopaw were sparring with the dark tabby and another white she-cat. Echopaw could tell by the tom's stance and heavy breathing that he was being pressured. Echopaw felt it too. They had only a few minutes before their friends were killed.

Echopaw began to try to show his sympathy. "We are here for the same reason you are. The Poisons are about to kill our friend as well."

"Do not try to trick me!" He sped across the path right at Echopaw. His claws dug into Echopaw's fur, putting Echopaw on his side. Seer reared up and tackled the tom. They started to claw at each other in a flurry. The she-cat continued the toms attack on Echopaw. Echopaw, however, was able to stand again and knock away the she-cat before she got close.

"I'm not trying to trick you! I'm telling the truth!" Echopaw tried to stop Seer and the tom. Seer was hit into the wall while the tom backed away onto the bridge.

"No matter. We'll rip you to shreds anyways. Broken Hearts, full attack." The tom cracked a crooked smile. The group of cats seemed to get more vicious and strong after the command. The group attacking Lionblaze and the others leaped onto them like the Poisons, clawing at them on the tops of their backs. Dawnpaw and Isle came around the corner to reveal themselves being outmatched by three other Broken Hearts cats. Seer and Echopaw recovered their strength and charged at the tabby tom. They collided with a heavy blow, but the tom took it like a tree, unmoving.

Though, Seer managed to get around the tom and low kick his hind legs. The tom, unbalanced, left himself open for Echopaw to collapse on top of him. After putting the tom onto the ground, Echopaw aimed a bite for the toms neck. The timing became offset as the other she-cat jumped in and drove Seer away from Echopaw. The she-cat's interruption threw off Echopaw's focus and gave the tom enough time to get up.

Echopaw tried to copy what Seer had done, but the tom became wise of his moves and swiped at Echopaw's cheek. Echopaw felt the sting of the battle mark from Garve reopened. His cheek burned with pain and he stumbled back. The tom sulked closer to Echopaw and lifted his claws. "Now, let's finish thi-"

The toms eyes stilled for a moment before he recoiled back, holding a paw to his chest. Echopaw looked up to see that all the Broken Hearts had done the same things. The clan cats stopped fighting in the confusion. What just happened?

"The Broken Hearts greatest warrior is dead!" The call from the Poison leader rebounded off the walls again, along with an even louder cheer from the Poison cats.

The dark tabby opened his eyes and stared at Echopaw. "Our brother is dead... All because of you! Ack-" He held his chest again, where the red outline of the heart was. His breath was rapid, like he had just been injured badly, which he might have. "With our brothers death, our pain grows deeper, as well as our power." The tom gritted his teeth angrily. "Broken Hearts, kill every single Poison down that corridor, and make sure to capture that Poison leader, for he shall face the true wrath of our painful strength."

The Broken Hearts obeyed his command, abandoning the fight with Echopaw and the others to rush down the tunnel. The clan cats were badly injured, all except for Lionblaze of course. They were in no condition to fight. The mission was ruined.

Dawnpaw, with her fur ripped off her side a bit, came up to Echopaw. "Echopaw, please... Don't give up... We need to save... Gingerpaw."

"I know, I'll do anything I can." Echopaw gazed around, landing his eyes on Lionblaze. "Lionblaze, Seer, come with me to distract the Poisons and Broken Hearts. The rest of you get out of here while there is still light."

Dovewing shot a shocking glance at him. "But how will you get out of here?"

Echopaw didn't answer. He ran down the tunnel, seeing that the fighting had already started between the Poisons and Broken Hearts. The path stopped and turned to a rising pathway leading to a higher platform where in the middle, a big tube spilled the mucky water across and down the platform into the river. On one side was a huge blue furred tom while on the other side was two Poison cats. Luckily, he also spotted Gingerpaw still being held captive by the two cats. She was still alive.

The blue pelted tom shouted out, "Do not give up, Poisons, they are weak after their deputy was killed. Destroy them before they have a chance to regain their power!" His eyes were a strange shade of green, his long tail flicked with the feeling of temptation, and his sharp teeth were shining off the light on the ceiling.

Echopaw darted through the crowds of cats, trying to avoid as many slashes as he could. The reopened scar on his cheek didn't help either, though he was soon relieved as Lionblaze and Seer joined the fight to attract attention while Echopaw made his way to Gingerpaw.

The blue tom spotted Seer and Lionblaze when they started to shred the Poisons. "Who are they?"

Echopaw forced himself inbetween tremendous struggles and unending claws until he reached the rising floor to the side of the platform where Gingerpaw was. He creeped against the wall out of the sight of the Poison cats on top.

The Poison tom on top declared. "Do not stop fighting Poisons! I must take my leave." The blue tom bowed and turned around, heading into a small tunnel on the other side of the platform. The two Poison cats holding Gingerpaw began to follow.

Echopaw waited until he the two cats got closer. The blue tom had now disappeared into the tunnel, leaving the fight. The Poison captors walked closer and closer...

"If we cannot kill the leader, we shall kill his prize!" The dark tabby tom and the she-cat had gone up the other path and amazingly jumped across the water. Their claws sunk into the Poisons' pelts and were ripped away from Gingerpaw.

Echopaw sprang into action, running at the she-cat. She hadn't noticed him until now, which was too late. Her eyes widened when Echopaw bit into her neck, forcing her onto the ground. His teeth went deeper through her fur into her skin. Echopaw realized what he was doing and jumped back.

Blood dripped off the tips of his teeth, and for the first time, he had tasted blood that was not his own. He tried to wipe away the taste, but it wouldn't go away. The she-cat shivered with pain, but was able to get up. She clumsily ran away into the fray and out the tunnels.

Echopaw hadn't realized that while he had the she-cat in his jaws, the Broken Heart tabby had grabbed Gingerpaw and taken her into the other small tunnel.

He froze with terror. This is where it happened. The dark tabby tom. The sewers. Gingerpaw's death. That's why he recognized the toms voice before. He had caused this to happen. If they hadn't stopped the Broken Hearts, then they would have saved their brother and left Gingerpaw be. He recalled the tom in his vision's words. "With our brother dead, so shall you share the same fate." He had taken the wrong path and ensnared himself.

NO! Echopaw ran into the tunnel. I will not let Gingerpaw die!


	22. Chapter 20

"Our brother is dead!"

Echopaw hurried down the tunnel, the putrid air flowing off his fur at a high speed. He was running not for his own life, but for the life of another. With agonizing determination, he kept gaining speed. The tunnel was too small to have any lights above him, so he followed the dim light coming from the room far ahead.

"My time was wasted because of your friends!"

Echopaw felt the feeling of undying valor. He would not let Gingerpaw die after he made that promise to Crowpaw and Dawnpaw.

"This occurrence made me realize that this was all because of you!"

The light was getting closer. Echopaw felt like his feet weren't touching the ground anymore. The sensation inside him was... righteous. The vision will not come true!

"Your usefulness has drawn thin." The dark tabby hissed.

He was out of time. Now or never!

"With our brother dead, so shall you share the same fate!"

Echopaw appeared at the exit to the tunnel, not stopping for anything. He saw where the tom was, holding Gingerpaw with his left paw, readying a deadly blow with the right. Echopaw yelled, "NOOO!"

The tom heard his scream and looked,distracting him for just enough time for Echopaw. In an explosion of strange white sparks, Echopaw slammed into the tom's flank, releasing his grip on Gingerpaw and skidding over the stone floor into the wall. The sparks circled around Gingerpaw and Echopaw.

The voice of the white she-cat whispered from the sparks, "I knew you could do it, but the battle is not over. Watch out!"

The tabby tom picked himself up and jumped through the sparks, crashing onto Echopaw. Echopaw fell onto his back and tossed the tom behind him with his hind legs. The tom landed perfectly and turned around, staring at Echopaw with rage.

Echopaw stood in front of Gingerpaw. "Stay close, and don't run away."

Gingerpaw nodded and backed up a couple paces to leave room for Echopaw to fight the tom. She crunched into a tight ball like a kit would. Echopaw faced the tom.

"How dare you!" The tom sneered.

"You didn't listen before. We both had the same mission, but you wouldn't abandon your pride to try to cooperate with us. Your brother's death is all your fault."

"But it doesn't matter! We didn't get our names because we support each other! Ha!" The tom lowered his head. "No, our power is born from the hatred and pain, and the extermination of our brother will make us ever stronger." He grinned and raised his head. "Let's see you take on the new most powerful commander of the Broken Hearts, Zon!"

Without warning, Zon ran at Echopaw. Echopaw saw Zon's strength had returned and grown from the battle he had with him before. Something in Echopaw told him that he had no other choice but to fight this battle alone.

No. Echopaw thought. He has the wills and trust of all his clanmates in him. No force would ever break StoneClan. Echopaw remembered all he could from training to when he first fought Longtail in StarClan. Everything came down to this.

Zon darted to the left of Echopaw and jumped. Echopaw hurried to get out of the way when Zon's claw came crashing to the ground. Echopaw slid around him and clawed at Zon's bruised side. Zon howled in pain, but then turned and clawed at Echopaw's chin before hopping back. They circled each other, hissing and growling, waiting for the other to make a move.

Echopaw took a moment to check if Gingerpaw was okay. Zon took the chance while Echopaw wasn't looking to jump onto him, but Echopaw sensed Zon before he had a chance to attack him. Echopaw shifted to the side. Zon landed a tail-length away and stammered. Echopaw crouched and waited for the right moment to strike.

Zon got back to his feet and glanced at Echopaw befuddled. He readjusted his stance and started to run at Echopaw. Echopaw stayed still, narrowing his eyes as Zon got closer. Zon yelled, "I'll kill you!"

Echopaw watched Zon do a final leap aiming for him. Echopaw collected his might and jumped in the air. Zon was clueless to Echopaw's plan, but in the air, Echopaw clasped his teeth into Zon's neck. Echopaw felt the blood spilling out of the tom's neck, but he didn't stop biting deeper. Zon shrieked in pain. Echopaw twisted his head and tossed Zon around him and let go of his neck. Zon went flying into the hard wall with a deafening 'CRACK'. Echopaw landed on the ground hard, but Zon landed even harder. Echopaw knew what he had done.

He had crippled Zon.

"No-!" Zon coughed and fell to the ground, unable to move his hind legs. "I-... I can't... I won't give up!" Echopaw watched pitifully as the tom clawed the floor, trying to crawl toward Echopaw.

"It's over Zon. You will no longer survive as a Broken Heart. Your only hope is the Twolegs now, or die here for nothing."

"Hah... You think my death with be in vain!?" Zon stopped crawling. "Like our brother, when I die, my living brothers and sisters will become even stronger." Zon stammered lifting himself with his front paws and spat out a drop of blood. "Your efforts to destroy the Broken Hearts will be useless if you continue to kill us off one by one."

Echopaw frowned. No, he had other ways to deal with them, but Zon was beyond saving. "Gingerpaw, lets go."

Gingerpaw clung to Echopaw's side. "I'm so glad to see you again! Thank you Echopaw!"

Echopaw led Gingerpaw back into the small tunnel. Zon was hissing at them as he said, "You shall never break the Broken Hearts, for we are already broken!"

"Echopaw! Mom!" Dawnpaw was waiting at the end of the tunnel. Her happy purr had returned. He hadn't heard it since Gingerpaw was captured. "Mom!"

Echopaw let Gingerpaw exit the tunnel first to comfort with Dawnpaw. "Oh, my kit, I'd never thought I'd see you again."

"Me neither." Dawnpaw cuddled close to Gingerpaw's chest.

Echopaw looked around the room and saw the battle had ended. Countless Poisons were dead, along with one or two Broken Hearts. Only 7 Poisons were left breathing, but were in horrible condition. It also looked as though Seer was comforting them. Seer must be well known with more than Koul and the brown key keeper cat. Echopaw stared down the large tunnel that they had all come from. Wherever the Broken Hearts were, they were long gone. They left no time to check to see who they had left. Zon would die alone.

Lionblaze walked up to Echopaw. "You actually did it. I saw that tom run into that small tunnel with Gingerpaw and you followed. By the looks of it, you beat him." He lowered his voice. "Is he dead? Did you kill him?"

"No." Echopaw grieved. "I crippled him, but I did the right thing and gave him a choice to either retreat to the Twolegs to heal, or to die alone in the sewers."

"I see... He chose to die." Lionblaze bit back a snide remark with Zon's choice.

"But all that matters now is that Gingerpaw is safe." Echopaw looked to Dawnpaw. "It looks like Dawnpaw didn't want to leave with Dovewing."

Lionblaze smiled. "No, she came in to help fight after you had went chasing Gingerpaw. She is a very brave young warrior."

Echopaw smirked as well. Then he thought this was a good time to tell the truth. "I had a vision. Remember on the beach? Did you overhear me and Dovewing?"

Lionblaze glimpsed at him with a little of a grim look in his eyes. "Yes, Dovewing told me about it. Is it true? That these visions that you have been having aren't from StarClan?"

"Yes. These... twin cats... are giving me these visions. They say they are the ones that guide the Twolegplace's cats. They are the StarClan of the Twolegplace."

"So the vision you had of Gingerpaw dying?"

"They told me that I could change it. They told me that the visions were to only show me what would happen if I didn't do something about it. But right now it's got me confused." Echopaw sat and shrugged. "I caused Gingerpaw to get taken by the Broken Heart cat. I had made the vision come true."

Lionblaze set a paw on his shoulder. "You saved Gingerpaw. That's all that matters right? Whatever these twins are doing, they are trying to help. Right now, we need all the help we can get. That's why we're here."

"I know, but... the visions they gave me were... The third vision they gave me was me dying." Echopaw's eyes began to water. "I don't know if I can prevent myself from making that vision come true."

"Echopaw, remember. We always will have your back. Just tell us about them and we'll try to prevent you as well." Lionblaze watched Dawnpaw and Gingerpaw again. "You cannot do things alone all the time. Rely on others. It is the only way to lead a clan."

Echopaw nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yeah, you are right Lionblaze."

Lionblaze perked his ears up and turned, snarling. Echopaw turned too, ready for another attack.

Except, it wasn't another patrol of Poisons, at least not an enemy patrol. The brown key keeper tom was walking into the room with tons of cats by his side. Kits and she-cats mostly, they were all the same. They were Poison cats. Echopaw smiled. "Lionblaze, it's okay. He's a friend."

Seer noticed him as well. He came up to the brown tom and bowed.

The tom bowed back, then looked up to Echopaw. "Young warrior, I thank you." He walked closer, leaving the group of cats. "You have expelled the Poison's horrible leader, Fen. He was never supposed to lead the cats in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Echopaw looked into the old cat's yellow eyes.

"Fen was the old leader's son alright, but the old leader knew that he was too young and incompetent to lead the Poisons. He never got to tell his group that he wasn't going to chose his son to inherit his position because he died before he could." The tom trekked up to the platform and approached Echopaw. "I, Claude, was meant to lead the Poisons to greatness. Not by capturing cats or using cages. No, the Poisons used to rule by the pure talent to travel quickly and in the shadows. That was all we needed to fight the opposing groups. That's the way I will lead."

Lionblaze stood next to Echopaw. Echopaw bowed to Claude. "You seem perfect to lead."

"No, I must say that I am inadequate. You are perfect to lead, and that is why I am here to make an offer." Claude looked to the cats that had followed him. "These cats are the ones that left the Poisons after Fen had accused Koul of being a traitor. They all agree that we are not ready to fight off any groups that will be coming down here to capture the sewers for a while. I am pleading for you to accept my proposal. May I humbly ask for your group to aid us in our efforts to make the Poisons what they were again, and keep peace in the sewers once more?"

Echopaw recognized this offer. It was them wanting to make peace with StoneClan, just like with the Twoleg cats. The Poisons and the Twoleg cats as allies? This was great. Echopaw smiled. "I, Echopaw, future leader of StoneClan, accept."

"Thank you, my young one, but do not use 'future' that way. You are a leader, no matter how young or weak you are. A leader must know how to treat his clan or group and know how to lead. I can see that you already possess the talents." Claude turned to his cats. "All cheer for this newly made alliance with StoneClan."

From the youngest of kits to the oldest of toms, they cheered, "StoneClan! StoneClan!"

Dawnpaw and Gingerpaw noticed the new sounds and joined in. "StoneClan! StoneClan!"

Echopaw looked around him. The clan would flourish soon enough. With the Twoleg cats and Poisons, it already seemed like they could take on BloodClan. The smiles on everyones faces felt more heartwarming than anything he had ever seen.

StoneClan has become strong again.

"They actually won. Hah!" The black tom was sitting in a forest clearing with his sister. His tone was unnatural for his attitude. "Never thought that you'd be right, my sister."

"I knew you were doubting me!" The white she-cat laughed. As she continued to laugh, she looked up at the orange sky, calling for the sun to rise. "My hopes have been answered. This cat shall one day create peace once more in the Twolegplace."

The black tom raised his eyebrow. "I still can't believe Echopaw had the strength to break the cat's back. Who knew that he had such reserved power inside him?"

"Don't you see? It's the work of StarClan! Without them, Echopaw would have never had the courage to lead a clan. Just wait until he becomes a full fledged warrior." The she-cat envisioned Echopaw in her head.

The tom shook his head with a wide smile across his face. "You have a wild imagination. One day it'll drive you crazy." He fell onto his back into the soft grass. "Or maybe you are already crazy. Ha!"

The she-cat giggled, but then noticed something coming out of the bushes. "Why, if it isn't our good friend Midnight?" The tom got up and stopped laughing, trying to hide his insecurity he just displayed.

Out of the bushes came a huge badger. It's black and white striped fur was ruffled from age, and her claws were dull with rare use. Her eyes shifted from one cat to the other. "You two are still strange."

The tom rolled his eyes. "Come here to tell us we shouldn't intrude on clan business again?"

"No. Opposite." Midnight revealed her half-smile. "StarClan accepts your well taught advice. They talk to you soon about StoneClan."

The she-cats eyes glittered. "Oh thank you Midnight. We, for very long, have wanted to speak to them. Without your help, we would have never got the chance. Thanks for speaking on our behalf."

Midnight nodded. "Keep guiding Echopaw, for now. Time will come you not guide him no more. Let him lead without being led."

"Yes, Midnight. And lets hope both our goals will be met. StoneClan, with our divine powers, shall flourish and vanquish BloodClan and the Broken Hearts and any other group that taints this place."


	23. Epilogue

The rest of the time spent in the sewers was mostly travel. They had repelled all the Broken Hearts and made peace with the Poisons. Since the other groups haven't found out about the battle yet, walking in the sewers wasn't dangerous anymore. When the lights shut off, Echopaw had talked to Claude about an escort, and Claude didn't show any signs of disagreeing. He gave them their best tracker, a small she-cat, to show them the way back to the fields in the south. Dawnpaw and Gingerpaw happily purred next to each other the whole way. Echopaw strolled alongside Seer, trying to somehow talk to him again, but everytime he stared into Seer's eyes, he heard nothing.

He wouldn't stop staring until Lionblaze rambled in between them. "So Echopaw, what do you think we should do next? Make peace with another group?"

Seer noticed the chance to escape from Echopaw and ran to the she-cat's side. Echopaw watched him go with a bit of sorrow. Then he perked up and answered Lionblaze. "No, we have time to finally relax for awhile. We need to recover from these battles, physically and mentally." Echopaw shook his head. "Our first priority after then will have to be to find Silas again."

"Why? Does he know something?"

"Yeah, Glaive told me he had encountered the twins, but never knew where they lived. He said that Silas and Okani maybe knew something because they lived close to them." Echopaw looked at Lionblaze. "I need to know who these cats are so I can understand why they are helping me better."

Lionblaze shrugged. "The way I see it is that they just wanted to help. Oh, I forgot!" Lionblaze laughed for a second. "We forgot to see Midnight!"

Echopaw remembered the name. "Wait, I still don't understand. We saw the moon rise in the sky plenty of times. What's midnight got to do with anything?"

"No, Midnight's not a what, she's a who. Midnight's a good friend of ours." Lionblaze started to think. "Remember the stories Squirrelflight was telling about the badger at the sun-drown place?"

"Yeah, and how it was friendly. That was hard to believ-..." Echopaw finally got it. Midnight was the badger. That's what Glaive meant when he said he sought wisdom from Midnight! Echopaw couldn't see how he didn't put that together before. "I get it now."

"Yeah, well it would have been nice to see her again. I wonder why she wasn't there." Lionblaze tilted his head. "So all you want to do is find these cats? We need to do more than that."

"Okay, what about the Broken Hearts? They sound like they need to be taken care of before they get much stronger."

"Those cats are the toughest I've seen around here. What's with them? And what's with that silly mark on their chests?"

"I think there's more to it than that." Echopaw looked at his feet. "They feel so cold inside, they harness that coldness into sheer rage. If they continue that path, they might grow stronger than BloodClan."

"So what are you saying?" Lionblaze got closer.

"I'm saying that next time, we need to face the Loners in battle and stop their leader from using the Broken Hearts any longer. That's our next mission. But for now, we need to gather cats for StoneClan. After we meet the twins, we'll look around for cats wanting to join the clan. Then, after a few moons, we'll go after the Broken Hearts and the leader."

"Good, now we have a plan." Lionblaze slowed down to walked net to Dawnpaw.

Echopaw kept walking, unable to think of the Broken Hearts. The Poisons might have been crude, but the Broken Hearts thrive off of the death of their friends. This sounded dark, filled with evil. Only BloodClan sounded more frightening than them.

But the Broken Hearts are close to sounding just the same.

Dovewing waited outside the tunnel, trying to focus in on the tunnels to find Echopaw again. Squirrelflight and Isle were in a bush nearby, talking to each other to try to lighten the mood. Dovewing sat right next to the entrance as the sun was high over the mountains. Her eyes were slightly watering, hoping that her friend were okay.

Echopaw was the first to walk out of the darkness, infusing Dovewing with relief. "Echopaw! Is everyone okay? Did you rescue Gingerpaw?"

"Yep, we did it." Echopaw let Dawnpaw and Gingerpaw come out of the sewers first, helping them down onto the grass.

Gingerpaw ran into the fields and rolled in the grass. "Oh grass, I've missed you so much!" Dawnpaw joined in with the same excitement. She really loved her mother.

Lionblaze strode out and approached Dovewing. "Everything went perfectly. Echopaw defeated the Broken Heart commander alone."

"Wow!" Isle overheard Lionblaze. "You beat that scary big tom all by yourself!? I wanna do that!" She jumped out of the bush to look at Echopaw's scratches.

Squirrelflight noticed they had made it after Isle had leaped out of the bush. She came out and greeted Lionblaze. "I'm glad you are safe."

"I want to hear everything, Echopaw! Don't leave a single detail out!" Isle was hopping around like a kitten. Echopaw guessed she probably still was one.

Lionblaze smiled with Dovewing at Isle. "Okay everyone, let's get back to camp. We also need to catch some prey for the guests Okani brought us."

Echopaw nodded. Maybe he could finally catch a squirrel.

"Crowpaw! We saved Gingerpaw!" Dawnpaw crashed into the camp, tugging Gingerpaw behind with her tail. Isle followed next to gaze and take in how cool the camp looked. Lionblaze and Dovewing went through the thistles next, then walked towards Cinderheart and Okani. Echopaw walked through with Seer. His eyes told Echopaw that this was amazing to him as well, without actually talking to him.

Crowpaw appeared limping out of his den with his ears pointed. His smile was heart-touching. "Gingerpaw, oh, you are okay."

"Crowpaw! My dear!" Gingerpaw rushed to his side and rubbed cheeks. "I was so scared. But now I'm back."

"I was an empty shell of a cat without you Gingerpaw."

The camp looked the same, except the trees didn't have as many leaves on them. Most of the leaves were on the ground. While they were gone, it seemed that Cinderheart and Crowpaw expanded the walls to reach the apprentices' den across the small stream. The brisk wind of evening fell onto the camp. The sun was shining between the trees, about to disappear behind the top of the twolegplace.

Echopaw joined Lionblaze and the others looking and examining the prison cats. Okani walked in front of Echopaw. "Some of the cats ran, mostly BloodClan and the Broken Hearts. There's only 6 left, couple kits, three she-cats, and a tom. But anyways, I heard that the Broken Hearts were in the sewers. What happened?"

"They were after their deputy. They were going to save him, but he was killed while we were fighting with them. After that, I fought Another Broken Heart cat, Zon, and saved Gingerpaw."

"You killed Zon!? Oh no." Okani stared at Echopaw, paralyzed. "Zon was the Broken Heart's leader's favorite commander." Okani paced around the prison cats. "If he's dead, this means war."

"The Broken Hearts let him die." Echopaw raised his chin. "I gave him a chance to repent and escape, but he said he'd rather die."

"Still, the leader is going to be furious."

"We'll take care of it Okani. Your time of aid is done. You can return home, can I ask you a favor?"

Okani softened her tone. "What?"

"Can you take us to the Tenkai twins?"

Okani backed away, frightened. "I'm sorry Echopaw, but, I don't think I can. They resent me too much. If they saw me again..." She paused. Her paws stopped trembling. "I can tell you where they are, but I cannot lead you there."

"That's good enough. Tell Dovewing." Echopaw turned to the prison cats. "All of you will be taken care of until we can find your mothers and friends. We will provide food and water for a short time, but you must go back to the twolegplace as soon as possible."

They all nodded. The tom, big, but skinny and had a dark gray pelt with black mottled spots on his sides sat up. "Who are you cats? Why did you save us?"

"We are StoneClan, and I am the leader, Echopaw. We saved you because we knew the Poisons were going to kill you, and by the code of honor, we saved you to stop the massacre." Echopaw used Claude's advice and said leader, not future leader. He felt more pride when he put it that way now.

"I can speak for all of us... Thank you. I am Harlem, owned by an Upwalker."

The kits couldn't speak much, but they tried. One was a smaller tortoiseshell brown she-cat with tiny paws. "I am... Shila. I... I lived alone with my mom."

The other kit spoke, but he was very quiet. He had a black and silver pelt with stripes of white on his muzzle. "I'm Reilly. My mom... she lived in the forest... I..." He went quiet.

Two she-cats sat next to each other like they were friends. One was a brownish gray furred she-cat with a black muzzle and the other was a golden furred with a short tail and legs. The golden she-cat stepped closer. "I'm Ariel, and this is Gena. I'm a loner while she's part of the Fighters, but we're sisters."

Fighters? Echopaw looked at Okani. She noticed my intrigued glance and told him. "The Fighters are more north in the Upwalkerplace. They are more focused on battles than hunting. They are pretty friendly though."

The final she-cat had her back to the others. Her head hung low, staring at nothing in particular. She had a black and dark brown calico coat and a small white muzzle.

Echopaw watched her for a moment, then turned to Harlem. "Thanks for telling us who you are. Finding your homes will be easier now."

Dovewing listened as Okani finally told her where the twins were. After hearing a description of the place, Dovewing closed her eyes and tried to hone in on them. Okani didn't know what she was doing, so she walked to Echopaw and asked, "What is she doing?"

"She has an ability to see, smell, and hear things far away."

Okani looked back at her. "Amazing. How'd she learn to do that?"

"StarClan." Echopaw wouldn't think she would understand.

"You are a strange group of cats. I must be leaving now. Silas worries about me a lot." She skipped across the clearing. "Seer, Isle, let's go."

"Aww, but I really want to stay! I don't want to go back." Isle pouted. "My owners never fed me right, and what they did give me never tasted as good as the mice we caught earlier." Isle nudged her shoulder into Squirrelflight's. "I want to live here!"

"That could be arranged." Squirrelflight smiled at Isle. Dovewing snapped out of her trance after hearing Squirrelflight.

Echopaw nodded and lept over to the rock in the center of the clearing. He jumped on top and stood with his chest prodded. "Isle, there is only one way you can stay with us, but you will have to no longer be a Twoleg cat."

Isle hopped closer to Echopaw. "You mean, I can't see them anymore?"

"You can see them, but never return to them."

Isle looked away to Squirrelflight, then Lionblaze. "But... my owners would miss me."

Echopaw understood. "This is a thing that many cats in the future will have to decide on. Loners might be able to decide easier, but the true challenge is leaving the ones you love to become a warrior."

Isle went silent for a few minutes. Echopaw could see the turmoil in her watery eyes. "I-... I really want to-... I want to become a warrior of StoneClan!"

"Will you uphold the traditions and beliefs of StarClan and follow the code of the clans through your entire life in StoneClan?"

Isle hesitated. "Yes."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I welcome you to StoneClan as an apprentice of Cinderheart. But first, we must give you your apprentice name."

Isle's eyes widened. "I can't keep Isle?"

"Your new name shall be... Splashpaw, for your eagerness to learn and excitement to spread joy throughout the twolegplace."

Squirrelflight started to shout. "Splashpaw! Splashpaw!"

Splashpaw became excited. "I'm a warrior of StoneClan."

"Ahem, apprentice of StoneClan." Echopaw butted in. "You have to train under Cinderheart for a few moons before becoming a warrior."

"Okay." She looked at Cinderheart next to Lionblaze, but ran over to Squirrelflight.

Okani looked at Seer. "What about you? You want to join these strange cats too?"

Seer gazed around at the cats in the camp. He took a small intake of breath. Then, Echopaw looked into his eyes and heard in his head the voice he heard in the tunnels. "Echopaw... I... gladly.. join."

Echopaw nodded. "Seer, do you promise to uphold the traditions and beliefs of StarClan and follow the code of the clans through your entire life in StoneClan."

Seer bowed in response as a yes.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I welcome you to StoneClan as an apprentice of Dovewing. And your apprentice name shall be... Darkpaw, for you sly and mysterious battle moves and wisdom."

Dovewing started to cheer, "Darkpaw! Darkpaw!"

"Everyone join in. Splashpaw! Darkpaw!"

Soon, the other warriors began. "Splashpaw! Darkpaw! Splashpaw! Darkpaw!"

StoneClan already had two new members. Echopaw jumped down and strolled up to Okani. "Thank you for everything."

"No problem Echopaw. Just... be careful. Next time I won't be there to tell you everything about the different groups." Okani smirked and turned around. She slowly walked into the bush and disappeared.

Echopaw twisted his head back to face the camp. Everything went back to normal. Darkpaw walked to the stream to get a drink. Splashpaw started to urge Squirrelflight into telling more stories. Cinderheart walked across to try to pull Splashpaw away from Squirrelflight, But Splashpaw held onto Squirrelflight's leg. Lionblaze and Dovewing went out the other unfinished wall to fetch the prey for the other cats. Crowpaw, Dawnpaw, and Gingerpaw cuddled with each other in the leafy den, rejoicing the return of Gingerpaw.

StoneClan's journey to greatness had begun.

"NO!" The yowl shattered the silence in the alleyway. Cats around the source of the voice tried to cover their ears, but the voice was too loud to block. "Zon is dead!?"

The tabby tom in front of the group of cats was shaking in fear. His voice stammered. "Yes. He was killed by the clan cat."

The source of the voice, a big black cat with huge claws, came out of the darkness, his eyes filled with rage. "This clan cat and his friends... what did they look like?"

"Well, the one that killed Zon was a gray tom-"

"What?!" The black tom pounded his foot, making the big Twoleg can of trash's lid vibrate. "My friend told me about this cat. He told me he would do this! Why did I not listen?"

"The other cat you described to look out for, the orange tabby..." The frightened tom backed up a few paces. "She was there too. She was an exact match to who you described."

The black tom lurched back, closing his eyes. When he reopened them, his voice got deeper and oddly dark. The air around him became cold, and his eyes turned black. The heart outline on his chest pulsed. He wasn't the same tom anymore. "So, my old friend Squirrelflight has returned... Hm, hm, hah, haaaa!" The tom lifted a paw and unsheathed his claws. "I'll make sure I rip her heart out... as she did with mine... Let the age of Broken Hearts reign, and give rise to a new power that will destroy the clans forever!"


End file.
